Misconceptions Of Leadership And The Impact On Employee Morale

Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) College of Pharmacy (COP) has a top down chain of command. The leadership begins with the Dean, Executive Associate Dean, Associated Deans, Assistant Deans, Departmental Chairs and department Directors. Authority is usually delegated in that order. It is the culture of the COP and an unspoken rule, that in the absence of the higher positions, leadership rests with the next position in line. Each member in the leadership hierarchy has a department with their own direct reports and leadership of these departments aligns with the culture of the COP, and in the absence of the department leader delegated leadership goes to the top position in the department. The purpose of the study is to outline misconceptions of leadership and the impact on employee morale. The study will also attempt to show evidence that the college could stand to benefit from the implementation of leadership as a concept based on an appreciation of diversity, teamwork and empowerment rather than an inherent authoritative control.

Akesha is a black Caribbean American, employed at the COP and reports directly to the Executive Associate Dean. As his administrative coordinator, Akesha is responsible for all administrative duties of the department assigned by him. Prior to leaving on an extended vacation, the Executive Associate Dean met with Akesha to go over assignments and projects he needed done, in his absence. The high priority projects included writing students’ recommendation letters for external internships which had a time sensitive application deadline; and completing the fiscal budget, for immediate submission. The department was short staffed with the recent resignation of an administrative personnel. The Executive Associate Dean asked that Akesha to assist with the specific assignment of inputting student grades into the system to make up for the shortfall in staffing. This was a proactive measure to keep the department functioning smoothly in his absence. Akesha felt empowered that her boss trusted her with the assigned tasks; and she assured her boss that she would complete the assignments and assist in inputting the grades as per his request. Akesha prioritized her assignments and started off with writing a student recommendation letter. While conducting research in the student’s files for information to support the recommendations, she was approached by the Director of Academic Services (DAS), a White, Jewish American female, who spoke to her in a very curt manner. The DAS told her she “needed” to take documents to the Health Professions Division (HPD) executive office to be stamped with the College’s seal. Akesha was a little confused as to why she would interrupt her while there were several other employees, including her secretary, available to fulfill the request. Akesha asked if someone else could do it that she was busy and would get the document sealed after completing her tasks, if no one else could do it. The DAS responded that it was her job to assist and stated she wanted it done at that moment would have asked someone else if she wanted someone else to do it. Akesha felt disrespected, uncomfortable and not valued with how the situation was handled. The next day, a similar situation occurred. The DAS again approached Akesha as she was working on the fiscal budget and told her she needed her to take minutes, at a meeting she was conducting later that day. Again, she was interrupted while conducting an assigned project, to fulfill a task the DAS had adequate staff to fulfill. Still disturbed by the event of the previous day, Akesha asked with obvious perplexity, why she was being given such tasks, when she had more time sensitive work of her own. The DAS responded, “Dr. Edwards (the Executive Associate Dean) said we could use you!” They proceeded to engage in an exchange of words that mimicked a professional conversation but that was laden with tension, lack of understanding and diminished respect.

Discussion

The outlined case scenario had several problems; first, there was no collective communication within the team. Communication is an important vehicle that transports ideas, build teams, accomplish organizational and personal goals as well as transcend leaders. Though the employee felt empowered to act, the Executive Associate Dean failed to clearly communicate his expectations of each member of the team. The DAS misused her delegated authority. She used power instead of influence to steward her objectives. One definition of influence states that it is he capacity or ability of a person to produce effects on the actions, behavior or opinion of others. Power is defined as the ability of an individual to exercise control or authority over others. Having influence over others to produce signifies a relationship in which there is a mutual transfer of interest, communication and commitment. Empowerment is the end result of the relationship that encourages the transfer the interest, communication and commitment. Consequently, the person with the influence empowers the others, to act. Followers are not forced or coerced to act, but rather a willingness to act developed through mutual understanding and respect. Power, on the other hand, suggests authoritarian directives given with little or no control on the part of the recipient; essentially a take it or leave it attitude. It would have been advantageous for the DAS to empower the employee to act in another learning capacity. This would go beyond delegation by enabling Akesha to achieve results beyond her regular scope of duties. Instead she demoralized the employee with coercive power and manipulation (Hickman, 2015) and prevented her from wanting to work with the DAS then or in the future.

Though not intended, the director’s action may have been perceived as nuances of cultural intolerance. However, effective leaders should structure their behavior on the exploration and awareness of these cultural differences. Diversity encompasses differences that may be cultural, gender specific or economic and an appreciation of differences should always be exemplified. Team work should embody the promotion and inclusiveness of various viewpoints. Teamwork skills are acquired gradually as a result of experience. The dynamics of the relationship between Akesha and the DAS did not exhibit or promote connectivity, and/or interactivity. An effective learning community must be designed to enhance the qualities of empathy, generosity, and integrity as such it enriches the experience for all participants. Leaders must be cognizant of inclusiveness, passionate about their profession, responsible in their conduct and open minded towards the people they serve. Teamwork and community involvement are platforms that can be used to cultivate employee morale.

Conclusion

Teams will always present a dilemma for organizations because of the complexities in tasks, personalities and cultural background; and because individuals become part of a team, it becomes necessary for them to rely on the success of the entire team thus rendering them dependent on how well the other team members perform and act. Since there is little to no control over the innate personal characteristics of individuals, careful considerations must be given to the pertinent contextual variables of clearly defining goals, outlining what needs to be done, assigning tasks to individuals who should do what, establishing who is in charge, how efforts should be coordinated, how decisions should be made and securing the process of how success will be determined. As documented and evidenced in multiple studies, successful work teams are the ones with concise goals and objectives, trust amongst team members and leaders, diversity and accountability, a strong sense of appreciation and belonging, open communication, support and encouragement for creativity, empowerment for self-evaluation and decision making and clearly defined leadership.

Recommendations

The recommendation for the scenario presented is for the human resource department to implement diversity training sessions for all employees. They should also conduct basic leadership training for all managers. Both trainings will begin to cultivate an environment of mutual respect for all employees. The executive leadership should implement a strategy for leadership that is clearly defined and understood by all employees. Leadership should be explicit and not implicit. Leadership within the teams and the leadership of the teams is an important determinant of team success. Leadership should provide a shared view of the teams’ direction, they should prioritize the initiatives needed to achieve the goals and manage the team’s dependencies across those initiatives. Leadership is not an optional element of any team. Due to the complexity of the assigned tasks, the diversification and distribution of teams, non-direct communication that may be with team members located in different countries and speak different languages, and the multi-leveled structure of goals, leadership is a requirement necessary to direct and regulate the collective effort of the team. Leaders must, therefore, possess the interpersonal skills necessary to work in a culturally sensitive way with a variety of people and personalities. Effective interpersonal skills represent a major success factor in almost every aspect of the business world today. To have a competitive advantage, these skills must be master those skills with limited or even non-existing experience to motivate their teams to becoming successful.