Chapter 12 The Supervisor as Leader You and Your People The Nature of Leadership Choosing a Leadership Style

You and Your People Hotels and restaurants depend on large numbers of people to fill low wage jobs. Turnover rate for hourly workers in full-service restaurants can be 100% or more!!! The industry employs people from all ages and backgrounds however, most of them are from 18-34 (Generation X). Over 50% of the hospitality industry are women. Employees want more than just a paycheck. When jobs are plentiful, they can go elsewhere.

The Nature of Leadership Being a leader can be defined as someone whom people follow voluntarily. Being a manager and a leader = being efficient and effective.

Seven Steps for a Foundation of Leadership Development Invest time, resources, and money needed to create a culture that supports leadership development. Identify and communicate differences between management skills and leadership abilities within a company. Develop quantifiable measurables that support leadership. Make leadership skills a focus of training. Implement ongoing programs that focus on leadership. Know that in the right culture leaders can be found at entry level. Recognize, reward, and celebrate leaders.

Authority and Leaders Formal authority is given to you by virtue of your position. Real Authority is given to you by having support of your employees. Formal leaders according to the organization chart are in charge. Informal leaders are in charge by having the support of their employees.

Choosing a Leadership Style: The most popular types of leadership styles today are: Autocratic: Needs of employees comes second. Makes decisions without input from staff, gives orders and expects them to be obeyed. They believe that this is the only method employees will understand. Bureaucratic: “ By the Book”, relies on rules, regulations and procedures for decisions. Appropriate for when employees can be permitted no discretion in the decisions to be made.

Leadership Styles Continued: Democratic: Almost the reverse of the autocratic style. The supervisor wants to share and consult with the group in decision making. Informs employees about all matters concerning them. Laissez- faire: The hands off approach. The supervisor does as little leading as possible. Delegates all power and authority to employees. Limited application to the hospitality industry.

The Old Style Boss Method: command- obey, carrot-and-stick, reward and punishment, autocratic. Results: far more likely to increase problems than to lesson them.

Theory X: People are counterproductive. Inborn dislike of work. Must be coerced, controlled, directed, threatened with punishment. People prefer to be led, avoid responsibility, lack ambition, and want security.

Theory Y- Douglas McGregor: Argued that work is natural, people do not inherently dislike it. People will work at their own accord towards objectives. People become committed to objectives that fulfill inner personal needs. Under the right conditions people accept and seek out responsibility. Imagination, ingenuity, and creativity to solving problems is widely distributed in the population. Modern industrial organizations use only a portion of the intellectual potential of the average human being.

Situational Leadership - Kenneth Blanchard & Paul Hersey Two types of Leadership behaviors: Directed behavior - Tell employees exactly what you want done, how, when, and where. The focus is to get the job done, it is best to use when employees are learning a new aspect of their job. Supportive behavior - Show caring, and support to you employees. Praise, encourage, and involve them in decision making. This is best to use when a employee lacks commitment to do a job.

Combining directive and supportive ~ four styles for different conditions: Directing Style: A lot of directed and few supportive behaviors. Coaching Style: A lot of both directive and supportive behaviors. Supporting Style: Highly supportive behaviors. Delegating Style: Low on both directive and supportive because responsibility is turned over to employees.

Transformational Leadership: Transactional leaders: motivate through appealing to workers self interest (rewards). Transformational leaders: act as a coach, lead by example, communicate, inspire, and provide workers with challenging jobs.

To develop your own style: Adapt your style to the situations, others, and yourself. Build your self-awareness. Be yourself. Remember that managers’ numbers are the primary benchmark for evaluating their successes and failures.