Effective leaders always look at the big picture and not their own pictures alone

Santiago is the owner of a small sized business that grew big. When he was asked about the secret of his success, he simply said, I am a team player I don’t make organizational decisions by myself. I encourage everyone in my organization to contribute their idea/s.  I look at it and consider some of the useful ones and it somehow forms part of my decision making.

There are leaders who make decisions by themselves alone and they don’t care to solicit their subordinate’s ideas. When a leader is like this he alienates his subordinates, he treats them as his subject and him their master.

So what normally happens to this autocratic style of leadership? After a period of time the leader fails to effectively exercise his leadership and then the organization that he leads becomes a failure also.

Why is there a failure of leadership? There is a failure of leadership for the simple reason that the leader looked at his own picture alone. In other words like a dictator he makes decisions by himself alone. His mindset was already conditioned to consider nobody but his own ideas which at all times is always biased to him.

A good and effective leader is someone who always looks at the big picture hence he is a democratic leader. He considers the ideas of his subordinates and he allows his subordinates to flourish and grow. He solicits their ideas before making decisions. What is always in his mind is the well being of the entire organization and not his own selfish welfare only.

Are you a leader who always looks at the big picture? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Your recruitment is the catalyst for growth in your organization

Why is it that there is a preconceived notion that the human resource of private organization is more superior to the human resource of government organization?  The difference lies in recruitment.

Private organizations most especially the competitive ones source their human resource from a competitive pool of people. They advertise and those who are initially qualified pass through several stages of interviews and examinations before they are hired.  Their employment is solely based on competence and what they could bring in to the organization.

On the other hand government organizations generally source their need for human resource from within the circle of people who are employed in their organization. For example, an employee is hired in a government office because he/she is the son, daughter or relative of a current employee.

Because of his/her connections this future government employee will not anymore pass through the selection process.  She/he will not be interviewed anymore, she/he will not go through the process of competitive written examination. Or if he/she goes through the selection process (interview, written exam and medical examination etc…) it would just be for formality.  

So what happen to this government organization? Its efficiency is affected; it cannot fully deliver the expected competitive service. And who suffers from this flawed government recruitment method? It’s the concerned government office and the people that it serves.  

There is also a preconceived notion that there’s a wide gap that exists as to the behavior and competitiveness between employees of private vis-a-vis government organizations. Employees of private organization would normally work harder and they are more competitive because of the stringent selection process.  

Therefore, if you want your human resource to effectively deliver in your organization. Recruit those who are fully qualified. Not based on whom they know or based on their connection in the office. But based on what they know and what they can positively contribute to your organization. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

The importance of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your subordinates

Frank is a distant manager, he seldom mingles with his subordinates. For him work is always formal and official business. The drawback of his being distant comes whenever there are special projects to be undertaken by his organization. Because he cannot properly identify the right people which could best help him.

A manager or a leader doesn’t exist for himself alone. He/she naturally exist for his people in the organization. He leads them toward the achievement of  desired organizational objectives.

Therefore it is a must for a manager/leader to know the strengths and weaknesses of his subordinates. For if he knows their strengths and weaknesses he will have no difficulty of identifying his subordinate/s that could best help him reach their organizational objectives. 

When a person works for an organization one way or the other that person naturally works with people also. Thus it is very important for a manager/leader to know the competence of his people. He could do this not only by looking at his subordinates work accomplishment. He could also do this by knowing them better, by talking and mingling with them.   

A good leader/manager should not be distant from his people. For how could he know them better? And how could he know their strengths and weaknesses if he’s distant from them?

Therefore a good manager/leader has to know his subordinates and in the process he will also know their strengths. So that he could easily harness it whenever he or the organization needs it.

Do you interact often with your subordinates and do you know their strengths and weaknesses? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Positive communication as a technique for motivation

Can we use communication for motivation? Surely we can! Successful communication usually involves the sender of the message, the receiver of the message and the feedback that the receiver will give to the sender.

How can a leader tap communication as a means for motivation? This is through the leader’s choice of words be it written or verbal communication. Whatever the way of communication is irrelevant, what is important is the choice of words.

As much as possible a leader should only use words or phrases that conveys positive message. By doing so the leader immediately creates upon his subordinates a clear and positive visualization of the output that he wants to have from them.

A very good leader should know how to use positive communication to his advantage.  Because it can inspire his subordinates and it can even positively shape their mindset. Hence, the leader should ensure that his positive communication technique is properly digested by his subordinates.

If positive communication technique is successfully employed by the leader. Feedback will come by means of meeting or even surpassing the workers targeted goals.

Do you use positive communication as a method for motivation? – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Your reason for employment in an organization

Do you know the reason of your employment in an organization? Your reason (among others) for employment is to achieve the goals given to you by your organization. For example if you are a sales person, your reason for employment is to achieve the sales targets assigned to you.

For as long as you meet or even exceed your sales targets you have a reason to be employed there. Your job security is assured for the simple reason that you’re productive. Thus, there's  a valid reason to continually be employed.

The moment you’re not anymore productive you also begin to diminish the value of your employment. And if your decline continues your organization will start to think of ways on how you could be legally separated from them. For the simple fact that no organization would want to continue paying an unproductive employee.

Among other valid reasons they may cite also job redundancy, job inefficiency, automation and computerization. But termination or separation will not be an abrupt decision on the part of your organization. Perhaps, you would still be given a chance or even chances to prove yourself once again.

If you fail to be productive again you have to face the reality. That the organization has no more reason to continue your employment. So what is your option/s? You only have one option, which is to work hard and be productive again. By doing so you’re giving your organization a  valid reason to continue your employment.  

Therefore, it is a must for an employee to work hard if he/she desires to continue his/her employment. Otherwise it would be goodbye to employment and hello to unemployment.– Marino J. Dasmarinas

Effective communication and coordination, a catalyst for organizational growth?

What do communication and coordination have in common? Both involve interactions and transfer of ideas/messages. Which when used effectively could result in the growth of an organization.

For example, if the top level management of an organization wants to grow bigger. It should always communicate its message of growth to every level of their organization. To ensure that the communication has an effective result; the sender of the message (In this scenario the top management) should never fail to coordinate with each levels of management if the message was properly understood by those who received it.

When there is successful communication and coordination of organizational objectives. It follows that there would also be harmony and growth in the organization. But there are also instances that failure of communication occurs and this is caused by failure of coordination. But how could we avoid failure of communication? Whenever we send a message we should never fail to coordinate if the message that we’ve sent was received and properly understood.

In this era of high-tech internet/intranet communication there’s still failure of communication every once in a while. And this failure is not in anyway caused by not being able to successfully send the message. This is rather caused by failure to coordinate if the message has been successfully received and understood by the intended receiver.

It’s a must therefore for organization/s who desires growth to see to it that there’s always an effective process of communication and coordination. Otherwise there would be failure of growth and harmony in the organization. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Your purpose in your organization

What is  your purpose in your organization? It’s to work hard for your organization this is simply your purpose. It doesn’t matter how high or how low is your position. For as long as you’re employed one of your important duties is to work hard so that every centavo that is paid to you would be worth it.

But somehow this is not always the reality because when an employee is employed his main motivation is to earn. An employee will work because he/she wants to earn, he doesn’t know yet his purpose in his organization. Who will inform an employee that he is not employed simply to earn? It depends on the organization, but essentially this should be done before the newly hired employee officially does his job.

Then as he do his job the responsibility to reinforce his purpose in the organization rest on the shoulder of his immediate boss/manager. The manager will do this in two ways: The first is through verbal motivation and the second is leadership by example. Verbal motivation is most effective when it’s done without emphasizing who is the boss and subordinate.    

In the aspect of leadership by example, the manager should lead the way. If he tells his subordinate that his purpose is to work hard then it is incumbent upon the manager to work hard also. The manager should walk his talk and not simply talk and talk.

Why is it important for an employee to know his purpose in the organization? This is for the employee to know that he has an important role to play in the organization. And this is for the employee to know that he belongs to the organization and he is valued and needed by the organization. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Cooperation and harmony in organization

Do you desire cooperation and harmony in your organization? Of course every leader wants to have harmony and cooperation in their respective organization otherwise there would be dysfunction and chaos.    

How does an orchestra conductor harmonize his orchestra? He studies the music that he will orchestrate. After studying he communicates to each member of the orchestra what he wants to achieve. The conductor does this by consciously practicing the music that they are going to play or present to their audience.    

To many of us cooperation and harmony in organization is hard to achieve but a good leader must find ways on how to build harmony in his organization. The first thing that he should do is to study his organization and he should also know the kind of people working for the organization. By doing so he will now have an idea about his organization and what he needs to do to achieve harmony and cooperation.

Having done this, the leader now should properly communicate his ideas to his organization. This he can do best by calling for a general meeting and an open forum for all the members of the organization.

After which he will now present his plans for his organization and this does not end here. He should make himself available for his subordinates; he must have a listening ear. He should continue to build bridges and destroy any form of barrier that could impede the flow of cooperation and harmony in the organization. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

This blog features my insights and commentaries on Human Behavior in Organizations. I conduct Lectures/Talks on Organizational Behavior and Values.

This blog features my insights  and commentaries on Human Behavior in Organizations. I conduct Lectures/Talks on Organizational Behavior and Values.

Your words can build or destroy the confidence of your subordinate/s

Do you always see to it that the words that you say are always motivating and remarkable? For example in your workplace, do you always see to it that you avoid negative words or words that create a stigma on those who hear and receive it?

Your words are very powerful it can build or destroy your subordinates. If your words are always words that condemn or words that bring down the dignity of your subordinates. You can be sure that your subordinates morale and productivity will be affected. He/she will lose confidence in himself which is very important for your subordinates growth and development.

When you speak to your subordinate/s see to it that you only speak words that build, words that inform and words that motivate. Why? Because this is how it should always be, what if a subordinate is at fault? Doesn’t he/she deserve to be lectured or treated more strictly than the others? No, for the reason that this is not the right way to solve this problem.    

Harsh words will never correct a faulty behavior it could even aggravate a defective behavior. The correct method to approach this problem is through composed and calm face to face communication. When the boss is calm it follows that the subordinate/s will be calm also but when the boss is angry and feeling superior there’s always the tendency for the subordinate to be angry also.    

If you always approach with diplomacy and respect your problem subordinates you could even build their confidence. You will also be highly respected by your subordinate/s for the simple reason that respect always begets respect and disrespect begets disrespect also.  

Therefore be careful with your words for it can build or destroy the confidence of your subordinate/s. It can also enhance or destroy your own reputation as a Boss/Manager - Marino J. Dasmarinas