Answer :

Introduction

The very concept of leadership can be depicted as the ability of an individual or a company management for setting as well as attaining challenging goals with regard to take decisive actions, outperforming the competition and providing inspiration to others for performing well (Sagnak, 2016). Effective leadership does help the organizations in improving its overall performance trough bringing forth positive changes and negating the adverse elements. In this research work, reflective study is being done regarding the way of enhancing as well as strengthening the leadership potentials, qualities and styles of the assumed leader figure in context of the chosen organization Image Center Group (ICG). How leadership knowledge, skills and attitude would be playing crucial part in the leadership position and practices in order to bring forth changes in ICG would be depicted in this study. 

Body of Discussion

Leadership style

The chosen organization, ICG is renowned for being the largest independent communications group of New Zealand which aims towards delivering top-class communication solutions to the local marketplace. Communications solutions are delivered to the consumers all across New Zealand with the intriguing performance of the efficient teams. As per this case, I would be engaging in a reflective study of being a supposed leader of the organization and how my leadership approach brings forth changes and improvements to ICG would be discussed in the following. As the business group was founded with the formidable goal of providing challenge to the establishment alongside improving things; participatory approach of leadership would be suitable for the company work culture to perform with more effective precision. 

In course of assuming myself as a leader of the chosen organization Image Center Group (ICG), it can be put forth that my leadership style would be directly impacting the company business and decisions and would be bringing forth changes in the business organization. In the supposed leader role of the business organization, I would be following Participatory leadership style in order to ensure more numbers of employees are actively participating in the business activities with regard to their involvement in the decision making process. Participatory leadership is largely considered as an effective tool for change management and this is a major reason for opting for this style apart from resorting to this as out of natural capacities as a leader and for ensuring effective most results (Bryman, 2013). 

As far as the conventional view of leadership is concerned, a hierarchical style is largely supported and the idea regarding democratizing leadership does not hold much interest or popularity. But over the time, participatory leadership has turned out to be an increasing popular approach for the leaders in order to gain trust of the consumers and also to build rapport with the workers of all level. I chose this particular style of leadership because I seek for involving others in the decision making process rather than being vested in the autocratic decisions. Involving others means subordinates, colleagues, superiors and other stakeholders would be coming together for making decisions with regard to providing varied range of inputs and discussing effectively (de Poel et al. 2014). I being the leading figure would be enabling the workers to engage in participative activity within the immediate team and given the fact that several individuals deciding together do make better decisions; participatory approach is the best suited style in this regard.

It is agreed upon that participative leadership can often be slower when it comes to decision making as multiple suggestions and opinions ultimately form one final result; but variety of inputs help this leadership approach quite favorable for business culture as it is quite fitting for different corporate environments. 

Leadership KSA

It is to be mentioned in this regard that knowledge leadership is a matter of context and leaders tend to possess the requisite leadership knowledge as per the situation demands. One of the major roles of the leader is to link all the stakeholders into a strategic innovation system with regard to applying self-managing leadership knowledge and in course of transcending organizational boundaries (Iqbal et al. 2015). Leaders must have the ability to lead by means of influence and persuasion as that makes for effective leadership; and I as a leading figure do believe the same. It can be mentioned in this regard that leadership potential plays a significant role in bringing forth change in the business company. As the leading authority of ICG, I do aspire to improve my potential with regard to implementing advancement to the workings and skills of my leadership. As participatory leadership is considered best suited for bringing forth change management, ICG would be benefitted with the new found changes which would be effective in the company’s improved performance. 

In course of depicting leadership skills, it can be mentioned that certain skills are required for effectively leading the team with efficient managerial authority. Communication, awareness, relationship building, motivation, delegation, empowerment, innovation etc. are some of the quintessential leadership skills (Bryman, 2013). From the perspective of a leader, I can mention that I do have certain leadership skills that would be helpful in my leading regime as well as would be effective in helping me learn other relevant facets as necessary in various situations. The power of effective communication is there in me and it was evident ever since I joined the company some years ago, as a junior worker. From that moment, my communicative skills have improved with time and I have managed to conquer significant professional hurdles through my communication and have come so far in becoming a leading figure in the NZ company. In this regard my inter-personal skills are put to test accordingly which makes me realize my functional skills are intact and act as an aid to the company’s progress and success. 

Words have the power to motivate people and I believe I possess the power to communicate effectively in terms of conveying the messages to the subordinates. In this way, I do have the capability as well as the tenacity to motivate other workers with regard to properly encouraging them to perform better every time. Inspiration is a must for proceeding to any task and by means of setting a good example, I do manage to inspire the employees of the company which in turn help them in yielding improved performance for the greater good of the company. Positive approach coupled with participatory attitude help me in maintaining good rapport with my co-workers which not just showcases the effectiveness of my leadership; but also enables the others in following a good example. 

I believe in empowering the subordinates and henceforth choosing the participatory or democratic style of leadership was a correct decision. This would be benefitting the company not just in earning ore amounts of revenue but also in improving its business position in the respective working domain (Sagnak, 2016). Moreover, delegating the task responsibilities with effectiveness is part of good leadership and I try to follow suit in this regard. 

Leadership qualities are largely inclusive of honesty and integrity, accountability, commitment and passion, decision-making capabilities, inspiring capacity, creativity and innovation, empathy and others (Kim and Schachter, 2015). As a leading figure of New Zealand’s largest communications group, I believe I can exert best possible qualities of leadership which are bound to add to my leadership persona. Being honest and an individual with integrity; I put in my best possible efforts to any task I do and that is well reflected in the outcomes. I prefer to maintain a transparent relationship at work and that can be reflected in the company’s transparent business environment. This comes under my business as well as leadership knowledge that leaders are accountable to their people for their actions and therefore, there is and will be no dearth of accountability from my side within the organizational framework of ICG as well. 

I always make sure innovation is encouraged within the organizational structure and creative inputs are always welcome to make the communications group work even more accurately. The NZ business thrives on creative ideas and their effective execution and implementation which in turn help the company in earning quite generous revenue (Kushalappas and Pakkeerappa, 2014). I am qualified to make business decisions and as others are involved in the process of decision-making; thus the responsibility lies with everyone and specifically with me as I act as the guiding agent for the others in order to prevent any harm against the team and the company in its entirety. Furthermore, as a leader I tend to be empathetic towards my subordinates and help them in dealing with situations within the ICG workplace. My emotional intelligence works at its best in this context for I can assess the gravity of any situation and can identify the emotional tones of the subordinates which help me in helping them accordingly. I try to make the employees self-sufficient so that they can act on their own and can provide support to the company operations. ICG is like a small family where everyone is concerned for the other and helps each other to succeed after every step.

Effects of leadership approach on organizational outcome

As far as the role of participative leadership is concerned, certain advantages can be incurred and that would be changing the organizational aspects to a large extent in order to focus on effective managerial methods for the business. 

Company staffs would be much more accepting towards the company policies, decisions and norms as decision making process would be worked upon through general consensus. In this way, there will be a cut down on the resistance which the new company policies might have to experience and also the easy acceptance on the part of the employees would be speeding up the process concerning implementation of new ideas (Lam et al. 2015). As employees are given respective personal stake in terms of being involved in the process of creating as well as approving the policies, the success rate of the policies increase largely and the company also is benefitted regarding adjusting to the policy changes. 

I feel this participatory approach towards leadership would be enabling the employees in finding a voice in the company operational activities with regard to having personal liability for the company’s success. The largest communications group in New Zealand, ICG would be offered new dimensions in operating in the market field as their inputs would be varied whereas the organizational individuals would be having a shared vision when it comes to growing the clients’ businesses as well as overall brand value. The active involvement of the employees would be effectively contributing towards communications excellence with regard to all sorts of outputs i.e. creative, strategic as well as production (Miao et al. 2014). Moreover, as ICG is known for welcoming approaches from stakeholders as well as potential partners; it can be said that this style of leadership would be appropriate for improving the company business performance as well as the performance of the employees. Moreover, staff morale would be high regarding the environment of appreciation at workplace concerning the opportunity to be an integral part of the decision-making process. 

It can be put forth in this context that employees would be encouraged every now and then for actively participating in the business proceedings and this would enable the company in concern, ICG in choosing from a variety of business solutions. The company staffs would be intimately involved in the company’s operational ways which would be not just enhancing their position at the company; but also would be increasing the overall employee value. 

Furthermore, utility of participatory leadership style could be reflected in effective employee retention as this leadership approach happens to offer opportune factors to the employees for serving the purpose of improving their income by means of good performance (Newman et al. 2016).  As employees play a crucial role in determining the future success of the business organization, there are ample chances of their respective professional growth which in turn improves employee retention as well as cuts down on the turnover costs quite significantly. 

Conclusion

Conclusion can be drawn in this regard that leadership does impact organizational outcome and in case of ICG also this amounts to truth. Participatory leadership style would be appropriate for the NZ communications group because that would invite different inputs from working individuals which would be amounting to effective decisions which in turn would offer exceptional results on the business front. I believe, my leadership style and my skills and qualities as a leader would be benefitting the company in enhancing its business position as well as company image in the market scenario quite effectively. ICG would be undergoing the process of change management which would be revamping the company image quite significantly in order to make it all the more efficient and success-worthy. I would like to improve my skill-set and knowledge in order to be far more efficient in my job role and also in directing the company towards success unfailingly.