Organizational Behaviour (OB) is the study of what people, individual and groups think, feel, and do in and around organizations. It is the study of employee behaviour, decisions, perceptions and emotional response. OB also interprets individual-organization relationship in terms of whole person, whole group, whole organization and whole social system. Organization consists of units of people that are managed and structured to achieve collective goals.
Meanwhile, team are groups of two or more people, with a high degree of interdependence whom interact and influence each other to achieve a mutual and common goal that is associated with organizational objectives. Nowadays, organization works in team almost everywhere such as business, industry and even government. To move a team in one direction to achieve organizational objectives, a leader is needed. Leadership is the ability to influence a team towards the achievement of goals Therefore, team leadership is very important in an organization.
This is because, a good leader able to influence, motivate, and understand the team members thinking, emotions and behaviour. When it comes to leader, it does not simply mean he or she is manager, supervisor, etc. But rather as “team leaders”. By understanding the depth of leadership, this will earn the real respect and trust and team leader. Putting ourselves as manager or supervisor, places us only in traditional authority which are based and in respect for the position power. Team leadership is relevant to the study of organizational behaviour. Leadership is one of the components of organizational behaviour.
To work in an organization, a person must be able to assess a team first. Team leadership influence the way of thinking, decision making, motivation level and behavioural of a person in organization. The only difference is, team is smaller in number of people compared to organization. Content Development of Leadership Model and Style The action-centred leadership model is a significant theoretical model of leadership that was put forward by John Adair (1973) and is probably his best known work. The action-centred leadership model is a leadership model that focuses on what leaders actually have to do in order to be effective.
This model consist of three elements: The achievement of a goal or task, the group of people performing the task, and each individual member of the group involved in the task. It is often presented in diagram format with three overlapping circle: task, team, and individual. The effective leader is the one who keeps all three in balance; that is who attends to all three at the same time. If any one element is ignored, the others are unlikely to succeed. Transformational leadership is a type of leadership style that leads to positive changes in those who follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic and passionate.
Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well. The concept of transformational leadership was initially introduced by James MacGregor Burns. According to Burns, transformational leadership can be seen when "leaders and followers make each other to advance to a higher level of moral and motivation. " Through the strength of their vision and personality, transformational leaders are able to inspire followers to change expectations, perceptions and motivations to work towards common goals.
Later, researcher Bernard M. Bass expanded upon Burns original ideas to which are “Bass’ Transformational Leadership Theory”. Bass furthered Burns’ work by pointing out that leaders must use their influence and charisma to provide followers with inspiration through a vision or mission, which will give them a strong sense of identity. According to Bass, leaders should also encourage followers to challenge the status quo. Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where leaders have complete power over their people.
Staff and team members have little opportunity to make suggestions, even if these would be in the team's or the organization's best interest. Autocratic leadership is often best used in crises, when decisions must be made quickly and without dissent. For instance, the military often uses an autocratic leadership style; top commanders are responsible for quickly making complex decisions, which allows troops to focus their attention and energy on performing their allotted tasks and missions. Cross-cultural leadership has developed as a way to understand leaders who work in the newly globalized market.
Today’s international organizations require leaders who can adjust to different environments quickly and work with partners and employees of other cultures. It cannot be assumed that a manager who is successful in one country will be successful in another. Osland, Bird, Mendenhall, and Osland, (2006) define global leadership as “a process of influencing the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of a global community to work together synergistically toward a common vision and common goals” An example of a leader as stated would be Steve Jobs; the CEO/co-founder of Apple Inc. Jobs is considered a leading figurehead in both the entertainment and computer industry.
Steve Jobs has made a large impact on our contemporary society due to his contributions, accomplishments he brought forth into the business world, and his tough managerial style. As a CEO of Apple Inc he has shown it is possible for the entrepreneur and inventor to be a great corporate leader as well. The first things make him difference from the other leaders is his ability to take on challenges of being successful in a world of many competitors with the rapid capability to replicate ideas. Besides, his also had the ability to inspire individuals and audiences, employees and investors, the public and competitors.
But probably his greatest skill was to know what the public wanted before they did, leading the market rather than relying on market research to follow it. Another example would be Bill Gates; the Founder, Chairman of Microsoft Inc. There is no doubt that Bill Gates did revolutionize the software industry when he came into the market in the 80s. He is accredited to having started the PC age and has continued to be the leading force for operating and application software. The first things make him difference from the other leaders is his expert knowledge which he is regarded by his followers as an expert, one of the best traits of a leader.
Besides, Bill Gates also utilized his distinctive personality to influence business agenda. Besides of this, further example would be President Obama, he formulated a more cross-cultural approach to the world, thinking not only of the US's interests but also the interests of the other nations as well. In the first six months on the job, President Obama traveled abroad more than any other president at that point of his administration and seemed to pay careful attention to cultural norms in the places where he traveled.
After his first year, the President's attempt to be more conciliatory to the Middle East, China, and Russia were welcomed by the world in that he received the Nobel Peace Prize. However, some believe the President's policies toward the Middle East helped bring about the Arab Spring which resulted in the overthrow of at least a few pro-American regimes. Hill's Team Leadership Model Eeffective leader should can diagnose, analyse, or estimate problem by monitoring or take immediate action to solve a problem. The leader should focus on problem within group or problem which needs intervention.
Besides,an effective team leadership should concern on task and relational issue as task productivity is high and try build with superior intra team relationships thus leads to excellent team performance and development. The team performance and development will affect by leadership decisions through the actions team leaders take either internally and externally. Internal task leadership actions used to improve a team’s ability to get the job done. The action include focused on appropriate goals, and then having the right structure to achieve the team’s goals.
In order to improve team members’ interpersonal skills and intra team relationships, internal relational actions should be made. Moreover, internal relational action is coach to improve interpersonal skills, building the trust and support needs of team members and being justice in exercising principled behaviour. External leadership actions are need to protect and keep the team connected team from the external environment. Action can be made by forming alliances by networking in order to access to information.
Support the team with those could affect the environment by negotiated with senior management for recognition, resources, protection from environmental diversion. Team effectiveness are team performance that refers to effectiveness team tasks were accomplished and team development that refers to how well the team was maintained in accomplishing the team’s tasks. For example, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Robert Kuok Hock Nien who is the leader of Malaysia ,also known as the “Sugar King”, his Kuok Group boasts of a huge network of companies under three main holding companies in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
As he going to make an important decision, he need to gathering information requires, scan and monitor the internal team dynamics and the external environment in which the team operates in order to make a right decision. He have to set clear goals and effective structure and decision making in order have high task performance. Besides, he can manage conflict, collaborate well together, and build commitment will have a good relationship.
The Six Leadership Styles for effective Team Performance by Daniel Goleman Pacesetting Leader are always high expectation and models excellence and self-direction. This leadership styles becomes effective as leader needs quick results and their employees are self-motivated and well trained. These leaders set very high performance standards for themselves and the group, and they are searching for members of the group. For example, a CEO with pacesetting leadership style has very little tolerance for making mistakes when the risks are that high.
Authoritative leader recognises him/herself as the expert in the company. He is one who visionary and could guide the company to achieving the goal. This style work best when a new direction is needed but it is might ineffective when the leader is working with a team of experts who know more than him or her. For example, Adolf Hitler, chancellor of Germany was extremely authoritarian. He required the population of the Third Reich to accept everything that he said as absolute law, and was able to impose a death sentence on anyone who failed to do so.
The affiliative leader will work to forming relationship that facilitate a feeling of bonding and belonging to the organization. Normally a good sense of interaction and communication are form with the team and the employees can conceive a praise and feedback from their team members. This style is most appropriate when there are situations of low morale and poor collaboration in organization. For example, a counsellor can be a affiliative leader who always promotes harmony among his or her followers and helps to solve any conflict.
