Leadership as a relationship
Leadership does not happen in a vacuum. It creates a relationship between the actors in daily activities on the real level: Organization, employee and manager. Self-management plays a central role here, because a manager always functions as a role model. In addition to clear self-reflection, it should also have solid self-organization.
Personnel management is the next building block in this dimension. It is important to recognize people as the most important resource in the company in the long term and to build a bridge between their needs and the goals of the organization.
Competences and potentials can be promoted by the distribution and organization of the workload. Contact and feedback are the keys to this competence.
Since the effort made is aimed at achieving the relevant corporate goals, organizational management should not be neglected. This term includes the critical “why” question. Setting meaning will lead to enthusiasm and motivation. Participatory approaches make it possible to help shape the organization to a large extent and are thus able to bring together the different interests of those involved, towards a common direction.
Leadership as a craft
Leadership is a profession, not some sideline. This core activity of an organization provides orientation and requires tools and quality standards. The standards created in this way provide added security and clarity to the everyday business, not only to the organization and employees, but also to the manager.
Practical theories are to be considered the first components of the manual repertoire. They enable the manager to better understand behavioral patterns in difficult situations. In this way, decisions can be better justified. However, the theory should not become a dogma; rather, through the knowledge of observable relationships, it should create awareness in managers and thus prepare them for the appropriate handling of analogous issues.
Theory also equips the manager with effective tools. Methodology used in a manner appropriate for the situation often determines the healthy functioning of an organization. As a result, managers feels able to perform their tasks competently and can also develop a clear understanding of their own role and the behavior associated with it. This represents an important anchor point for the organization and the employees, because stability and orientation can only be transmitted by those managers who can clearly classify themselves within a company.
Leadership as an attitude
Leadership is not a one-off “feat” or a project that one has to complete. It is an ongoing task in the organization. It can be equated with the personal attitude that is always needed and demonstrated when, for example, a situation does not allow preparation and managers act outside of their comfort zone.
Alertness is required in order to adequately deal with an unexpected, critical situation. Alertness is the concentrated and conscious absorption of information from the external and the internal world. It is the sensitivity to relationships, feelings and conflicts that can determine the course of, or problem-solving angle in, a situation.
While alertness can give us signs of future progress, it is effectiveness that brings the courage to act. Managers work in their environment through their actions and thus set impulses for shaping the context of all those involved.
On the journey to meaningful work and self-fulfillment in the workplace, hardly any component is as important as appreciation. It is the ability to recognize circumstances in the environment, skills within the organization or the experiences of employees and being able to use them in a targeted manner. With an appreciative attitude, managers generate meaning in their environment and create space for the further development and advancement of the internal potential of employees.
Leadership — love for people
However, none of the theories, instruments and maps do us any good if we overlook the most important thing in connection with management responsibility — people.