Does it pay to be a proactive leader?

What does it mean to be a proactive leader? Does this mean that the leader will just have a wait and see attitude and wait for things to unravel before him and then react when its late aready? Of course not!  If a leader or manager is like this he is not anymore a proactive leader but a reactive leader which is actually very disastrous for an organization.

A Proactive leader/manager should have an effective self-awareness about his environment. In other words he must always be five (5) steps ahead of his subordinates , he must be like a radar or a sonar that detects objects before it gets near.

For example, an effective leader will be able to detect in advance if his subordinates are dissatisfied with his leadership or managerial skills. And the moment he detects it in advance he must competently adjust his leadership and managerial style to address the dissatisfaction.     

But how would he know in advance if there’s dissatisfaction in his organization? He should always be in-touch with his subordinates, he should mingle and talk with them for this is one of the efficient methods on how to have effective awareness in an organization.

It pays to become a proactive leader because you are able to detect and prevent problem/s before it occurs. You are able to think and create ways on how to address the problem in advance before it becomes a full-blown problem for your organization.

Are you a proactive leader? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Do you need a Paradigm shift?

Organizational life nowadays is always dynamic and seldom static this is brought about by the technological advances that we have now. Say, for example the advent of internet technology which hastened decision making and selling of goods/products.

Organization executives can now decide faster because they now have at their fingertips information that will guide them on what decision/s to take to maximize an organization’s profitability. With the availability of information; organization now can easily shift their paradigm based on what the business environment dictates. 

In the arena of marketing for example, twenty years ago we never heard of online marketing or internet marketing. But now its different online marketing is everywhere; therefore a shift in paradigm is needed as far as marketing of goods are concerned. As a result of this a big chunk of an organization’s budget for advertising is now allocated to online marketing for this is where majority of goods are sold now.

Therefore if we want our organization to survive we must have a shift in paradigm in allocating an organization’s advertising budget. From overly concentrating on print and media advertising the organization now trains its eye on online advertising for this is where clients are situated.  

In like manner effective managers must know how to shift their paradigm as far as how they relate with their subordinates. They now must be aware of what is the new trend in social media and they must connect with their subordinates through social media. Such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other available social media vehicles by doing so they create a tie that will bind them with their subordinates.

What if the boss or manager has a Jurassic mindset and he/she prefers to stay away from social media? Sooner or later he/she will be left out in the cold and will not be able to effectively connect with their subordinates for the reason that they refuse to shift their Paradigms.

Have you already shifted your Paradigm on how you connect with your subordinates? - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Who is the most affected when a company closes its operation?

Because of the unstable economic environment and automation/computerization of organization and production processes. It is very ordinary to hear business organizations in different industries fighting for survival. 

Thus, to be able to survive they reduce the working days and hours of their employees. This is a very valid strategy for survival. If this strategy will not pull them through to survive the organization would eventually have to face the sad reality that it needs to stop its operation.

 When this situation comes up it is not actually the business owners that is severely affected. For the reason that they still have other businesses to take care. Others have safe financial investments that earn for them interest that will keep them financially secure for the rest of their lives.

Who hurts the most when an organization brings to a close its operation? It’s the employees: not the top or middle level management but the first level ones and the operative or rank and file employees. In this case they are the most affected. And the irony of it all is they are mostly the ones who have the longest length of loyalty and service to the organization. And many of them are already middle aged and not anymore marketable for employment .

Loosing ones job is not a joke; it’s actually a big dilemma for those who will be affected especially if they have mouths to feed. So before the organization folds up labor laws will dictate them to properly compensate all those who would be laid off regardless of their standing in the organization.

Some compassionate organizations/owners even sponsor livelihood business training for their soon to be separated employees. So that they could stand on their own feet and start their own little businesses that hopefully they could grow so that it could sustain them.

If there’s a temptation for workers to go on strike to demand higher wages, workers and union leaders must weight upon it properly.  For it may result to their permanent displacement from their work. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Should a Leader/Manager be wary of informal groups?

Informal groups exist within a formal organization and there are some leaders who do not mind these grouping of people. But there are also some who are very wary of this grouping of people.

How should a leader/manager react when he is informed that there is an informal group in his organization? The best reaction is to know more about the group and those who are behind it and not to immediately be wary of it.  Once the leader/Manager have an idea about the group and the people behind it it’s now the call of the Manager/leader on what to do with the informal group.

If the leader or manager perceives that the informal group may be a threat to his leadership. Then, it is upon the leader to do something to extinguish the said threat. So he must investigate on how this group was organized and why was there a need to organize this informal group and so on.

If the result of his scrutiny tells him that it was organized to antagonize him. He must do something within the bounds of his power to defuse this group. For example, if the informal group came into being because of his lack of transparency and corruption he must therefore change his ways. And learn to become open to them before this informal group engulfs him. A wise and a good leader must not wait until he is overwhelmed by an informal group. He must at all times be proactive with his actions and judgments towards them.

However, if it does no harm to the leader and to his organization, he should just leave it alone. For the reason that it will be a big help for him in the future to advance  his many plans and advocacies for his organization. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Gentleness in Leadership

When we say leader we normally equate this with someone who has a swashbuckling personality. They are people who standout among the many because they dare to assume leadership positions when no one dares. They admonish their subordinates not only based on their position of leadership but it’s also rooted on the strength of their character and personality.  

How about gentleness? Does it have a place in a leader’s exercise of his leadership functions especially in the area of discipline? It has a place but this is something that many leaders tend to overlook because they have more bias with the strong personality of a leader. Rather than its gentle and humble character trait. 

One of the specific areas where we could fully utilize gentleness in leadership is during imposition of discipline. There are leaders who impose discipline based on the strength of their position and their bloated egos. They do this by personally berating the erring individual/s and this has become their usual practice already.

However, gentleness does more than strength of character and bloated egos. It has been proven time and again that a person is more open to change his ways for the better when we talk to them with gentleness rather than talk to them based on the strength of our character vis-à-vis with our authority.

 For example when we approach an erring person with gentleness he/she is more open to change and there is less resistance. Rather than approach them with our authority coupled with our bloated egos.

For a change why not try gentleness in leadership?  - Marino J. Dasmarinas

Don’t abuse your power

A leader has many power base inside his organization, for example his personal power brought about by his charisma and many likable characteristics. Another power base is his legitimate power entrusted to him by his organization. This includes his power to impose disciplinary actions and power to give rewards.

In his exercise of his power there’s always the temptation to get drunk with that power. It means that he might abuse it and use it for his own personal advantage. Here lies the danger once the leader takes advantage of his temporal organizational power. Why is it dangerous? Because it will eventually create problem/s not only for the abusive leader but for his organization as well.

Take for example, a leader who has been autocratically running his organization. Initially there will be no complaints. In fact almost everyone would seem to follow his commands. But sooner or later his subordinates will eventually have this realization that their leader has been abusing them. Therefore they would complain, if nothing happens with their complaint they will be forced to act against the leader. And who will suffer? It’s the leader and the organization that he’s leading.

The proper use of power is to always exercise it within the bounds of the law, never outside of the law or outside of the norms of an organization. We must not abuse it, we must always use it coupled with humility and responsibility.

Let us all remember that power is fleeting and it has a very limited shelf life. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

When there is conflict in your organization

Conflicts among workers are part and parcel of an organization’s life. In fact organization’s go through this kind of phase once in a while. This occurs for the reason that there is no perfect individual and no perfect organization. Each and everyone of us are deficient when it comes to our exercise of human and organizational behavior.

How would you resolve conflict in your organization?  The wise course of action to take the moment you notice that some of your subordinates are in conflict with each other is to privately call their attention. Bring the parties involve to a quite place where they could vent out their emotions.

 Before the start of the venting out of emotions among the parties involve start first with a healing prayer and invoke the healing presence of God. During the process of venting out of emotions be the man in the middle or be the referee, be objective and do not take sides.

After both parties have vented out their emotions be the healing agent urged them to shake hands, encourage them to agree to forgive. Then schedule another meeting among the involved parties you can do this after a week or based of the urgency of the situation.

What is the purpose of scheduling subsequent meetings? It is to update those who are concerned of the development about the healing process that you have initiated. Do this scheduling of meeting so long as you feel that there is a need for it.

What would be the agenda/s of your meetings? It’s about reconciliation and in other words it’s all about healing the conflict. There are times that conflict remains unresolved because there is no facilitator who will facilitate reconciliation and forgiveness among those who are involve in the conflict.

Be that person who will facilitate reconciliation and  forgiveness. - Marino J. Dasmarinas