Paper Sample on Leadership Traits, Communication Strategies, and Organizational Behavior Management

Address a key leadership trait that can assist in managing conflict.

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Emotional intelligence is a leadership trait that assists in managing conflicts. Emotionally intelligent leaders do not allow their emotions to influence their decision-making skills (Akanji et al., 2018). Therefore they do make hasty decisions, which is a key step to solving conflicts. Emotional intelligence helps in making factual and calm statements, asking questions and listening, and holding a discussion to resolve a conflict.

Discuss a tool or strategy a leader can adopt for improving communication within the organization.

A leader can use listening as a strategy to improve communication. Listening involves not monopolizing a conversation with employees and listening keenly to their feedback. Understanding employees’ feedback and answering questions make them active in a conversation (Akanji et al., 2018). They also feel that you care about them, which improves communication.

Describe some methods for motivating employees and improving behaviors within the workplace.

Employees can be motivated by acknowledging their achievements, creating a work-friendly environment, encouraging friendly competition, and having positive communication. Acknowledging achievement involves recognizing work well done. A friendly work environment involves creating a pleasant atmosphere that is comfortable and welcoming for employees (Akanji et al., 2018). Friendly competition among teams assists in employee participation and engagement. Daily positive communication, which may involve discussing ideas and concerns with employees, makes them happy and motivated.

Describe the primary functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, controlling) and the associated skills, tools, and theoretical approaches that can be used to accomplish these functions.

The primary functions of management include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (Berisha & Ismail, 2018). Many people experience the leadership and controlling part of the four functions. Planning and organizing are usually not experienced by those who being led, but the managers usually take a considerable amount of time to plan and organize the direction they want to take to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization.

The first function of management is planning. The managers have to develop detailed actions and plan to propel the company's goals and objectives. For instance, if a manager wants to increase the returns of a company, the manager has to sit down and plan the necessary steps that all the departments need to take to realize the common goal of increasing the company (Berisha & Ismail, 2018). Planning is based on team, departmental, divisional, and organizational goals, and therefore, it is the manager who has the responsibility of ensuring that all the goals are planned appropriately.

The second function of management is organizing. A manager has to organize how the resources will be allocated to achieve the set goals and objectives. The distribution of the resources and the interaction of human resources need to be well organized. A manager's responsibility is to ensure that everything is organized from assigning duties, delegating to providing direction to all teams to work towards achieving the goals (Berisha & Ismail, 2018).

Leading is the third function of management. This is the role of a manager that is evident for all to see. Managers have to interact and connect with all employees in an organization by showing them the steps that they have to take to achieve the goals and objectives that have been set. The manager has to communicate, motivate, and encourage the employees to enhance their productivity.

The last function of management is controlling. Controlling ensures that everything is done according to the principles and procedures that were initially laid down. Through controlling function, the managers have to point out errors and mistakes and guide the employees in rectifying and preventing them from occurring again (Berisha & Ismail, 2018). The controlling function of management is essential as it enables managers to take corrective measures and maintain the standards of work that were initially set to achieve the goals.

Explain the principal theories of leadership and motivation, and describe the fundamental considerations in managing and motivating individual and group behavior.

There are many leadership theories and motivations, but the principal ones include Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Hertzberg's two-factor theory (Nader, 2019). Abraham proposed Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and he postulated that people are only motivated when their needs have been fulfilled. He gave five needs that have to fulfill in order from physiological, safety, social, self-esteem, and finally, self-actualization needs (Nader, 2019). For a manager to ensure that employees are satisfied, all the five needs should be therefore fulfilled first. Hertzberg's two-factor theory is categorized into hygiene factors and motivating factors. Hygiene factors are required to ensure that employees are not dissatisfied while motivating factors ensure that employees are satisfied and motivated to post higher performances. Leaders need to consider the skills and capabilities of individuals and group members (Nader, 2019). It is through understanding the skills and capabilities that a leader will be able to match the right employees and groups to the right duties, hence enhancing motivation as everyone will do what they love.

Describe actions to improve communications, manage conflict, develop a strong organizational culture, and improve organizations' ethical behavior.

Several actions need to be undertaken to improve communication, manage conflicts, develop a strong organizational culture, and enhance ethical behavior in organizations. First, to improve communication and manage conflicts, managers should learn to listen to the employees. Managers should not monopolize discussions when trying to solve conflicts (Nader, 2019). They should listen to what the employees have to say before making judgments. After listening to the employees, the manager should inform and encourage the employees. The leader should ensure that whatever they say to the employees inspires them to improve their performance. Finally, the leader should also make the employees feel comfortable by freely expressing their ideas and thoughts about what needs to be done to achieve the company's goals. Through listening, informing, and encouraging the employees as well as making employees will create a strong organizational culture and ethical behavior among the employees whereby they can listen to each other and respect the ideas and thoughts of one another.

References

Berisha, H., & Ismail, Y. (2018). Management Functions Displayed by Prophet Muhammad in Two Major Events. International Journal of Economics, Management, and Accounting, 26(2), 291-310. http://journals.iium.edu.my/enmjournal/index.php/enmj/article/download/548/295.

Nader, R. (2019). Leadership and motivation (Doctoral dissertation). https://www.academia.edu/download/36604401/LEADERSHIP_AND_MOTIVATION.pdf.

Akanji, B., Mordi, T., Ajonbadi, H., & Mojeed-Sanni, B. (2018). Impact of leadership styles on employee engagement and conflict management practices in Nigerian universities. Issues in Educational Research, 28(4), 830-848. http://www.iier.org.au/iier28/akanji.pdf