Staff are attracted by company name

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"What chance gather she easily scatters. A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This quote suggests that staffs are attracted by company names, which have good reputation of taking care and keeping their staff. . Even with the most creative ideas in the world you still need to employ staff and what is a business or organisation without staff? No business! After all, each business invest so much money and time in getting the right staff through the process of hiring staff, training why not also learn how to keep them happy and save time and money of repeating the cycle again. That's when leadership comes in a leader who has the ability to motivate staff, which could help increase output by keeping staff in your organisation. This suggests that keeping staff together in an organisation requires some skills which only leaders acquire. This essay will discuss the importance of leadership in business organisations and how companies that get it right reap the rewards.

Firstly there are differences between management and leadership. According to Naylor (2004) "Leadership is the process of influencing people towards the achievement of organisational goals", on the other hand Management is involved with solving problems, studying and controlling the environment. (Needle, 2010) describes the task of Management are dealing with solving organizational problems, setting tasks and achieving goals, control and being concerned with formal authority in an organization while leadership is concerned with influencing the performance of people, vision and innovation, motivation and empowerment, inspiring people towards a higher level of performance.. Leaders are said however to lead from the heart, due to their passion and managers lead from their head (Naylor 2004). Winston Churchill is an example of a great leader who led United Kingdom to victory in the Second World War. With these two perspectives it is clear that a leader has the personal power and potential to influence the behaviour of others through setting examples, while managers use the power of their position to effect change.

Secondly leaders possess certain qualities which enables them stand out in working environments. Leaders are visionaries, passionate, creative, flexible, innovative, inspiring, courageous, imaginative, experimental, motivational, and most of all they possess the ability to initiate change. (Naylor 2004) The ability of a leader to initiate change has been picked up over the centuries, there has been a change in what employers are looking for when it comes to choosing a manager, organisations now employ a manager who has the characteristics of a leader so they are getting the best of both words, this change is referred to as the new leadership approach (Needle 2010). Successful leaders have the ability to motivate their followers using various incentives i.e. rewards, pay increase etc. Motivation is simply effort, motivated staff apply high level of effort towards goals. (Schaffer 2008) Job design also play a significant role in keeping staff motivated, jobs that are very challenging can demotivate staff on the other hands job that are boring and carried out under harsh conditions also demotivate staff. (Naylor 2004) Taking this into consideration people are now matched to job. Therefore leaders are sought after in organisations due to their commitment and passion which they communicate through their actions.

There are various leadership theory used in organisations today, choosing what to use varies on the type and objectives of the organisation. The Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory focuses on each follower and their ability and willingness to perform a task (Robbins & Coutler 2009). Path goal theory focuses on leaders being flexible to choose between the four leadership approaches, the directive style is used for tasks that are ambiguous; leaders would give clear instructions on what needs to be done (Ibid). In the supportive approach the leader is friendly and shows concern for the needs of followers (Ibid). Leaders can also choose between being a participative leader or an achievement oriented leader. The path goal theory leads to greater satisfaction and high employee performance (Ibid). finally we have the transformational leadership theory which has to do with leader transforming employee's values and motivating employees to work beyond their own expectations. These theories provide guidelines for leaders to follow.

In order to fully understand the benefits of using theories we would take a look at the transformational leadership theory and research carried out to examine the benefits. From the survey carried out by (Timms, Baker & Xanthopoulou 2011) forty-two employees filled out questionnaires and kept diary entries over a five days period. The questionnaires and diaries showed a direct link between transformational leadership and enhanced work engagement through the use of optimism and self-efficacy (Ibid). According to another study carried out by (Joseph 2009) two hundred and fourteen participants viewed a video for a stressful task and were then examined for their emotional, psychological and motivational responses prior to starting the tasks. Transformational leadership was also associated with enhanced task performance under stressful tasks conditions (Ibid).For example Richard Branson of virgin group and Andrea Jung of Avon both use the transformational theory they listen to their followers problems, and allow them see it in new light and they are then able to excite and inspire followers to put in extra efforts to achieve the company's goals (Robbins & Coutler 2009). It is clear that transformational leaders go the extra mile to ensure followers are happy and understand each aspects of their job, which then increases performance.

Edward de bono and Robert Hellers (2007) made a comparison of the two world's richest men in terms of their leadership and management style. Warren buffets approach according to E. bono and R Hellers (2007) he want his managers to think like owners. Since many of the CEO's actually own the businesses before selling them to him, it is natural that they act like that but it doesn't stop there, he also leaves them with 10 - 20% to make the ownership practical as well theoretical. Their rewards are tied exclusively to the achievements of their own businesses, not to those of Berkshire Hathaway, which is the underlying principle in his management side. Other rules implemented by Buffet are that he gets regular financial reports, CEOs can contact him usually by phone as often as they want. If there's any bad news he must be informed early. The height of his leadership is believing (confidence) that his CEOs can do a first class job in running their operations with their own individual styles.

On the other hand, Bill gates style according to E. bono and R. Hellers (2007) is different from Warren Buffets style. Decision is made from the centre (Bill Gates and his Deputy Steve Balmer) leading to constant and fierce interrogations that has often reversed their own manager's decisions. They also stated that control is basic to Gates natures and his management practice. Comparing the two leadership and management styles it is evident that employees were rewarded for their roles. A company taken over by warren buffets Berkshire Hathaway in 1993 called Dexter shoes has seen the CEO own a share portfolio of $1.5billion with Berkshire Hathaway. About a third of Microsoft's Bill gates employees are worth a $100 million. Although their approach to leadership and management is different one gave freedom and happiness to their employee's coupled with incentives while the other delivered slightly better results but made all the choices. It is clear that both leaders adapted various theories to yield results based on their situation and what is comfortable from them, in fact there are no right or wrong theories when it comes to leadership.

In conclusion it is evident that there are many advantages of having a leader and someone to look up to in business environments, it inspires staff, they have clear expectations of what is required from them, they become motivated in their activities therefore increasing their level of performance. There are also different theories to choose from and great leaders are able to balance out and switch between various styles. Based on my experience of working as a waitress and having a supportive manager who knows when the pressure is too much and offers assistance, as a result I have been able to deliver great customer experience, which gives a great impression of the company. Overall customers are happy with the service and would definitely return back which is great for the company. It is a fact that leaders are very important and in future I can predict that old fashion managers that do not possess the qualities of a leader would not have a place in the society.

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Robbins, S. & Coutler, M. (2009). Management. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Timms, M. Baker, A. & Xanthopoulou, D. Do transformational leaders enhance their followers daily work engagement?. The leadership quarterly. 22(1)