MN7185 - Paternalistic Leadership Style

“A leader is the one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than the others see, and before the others see.” – Leroy Eimes

Paternalistic leadership is a management method that requires a leading and commanding personality who plays as a matriarch or patriarch and handles teams and employees just like the members in a large family.

Other way round Leaders expect faith, obedience and loyalty from the co-workers.

A Paternalistic Leader makes a friendly environment at the organization that employees treat as family. Getting into a group or a team is the natural drive of a human. Similar to a family that is having a head or a Leader. Organizations are with leaders who have a commanding position to decide what’s best and good for the team.

Paternalistic leadership is the method, where a leader is prepared to stick into the interests of the co-workers of the company or the organization.

Elements of Paternalistic Leadership

Leadership styles in Asian countries often marked as paternalistic leadership which its having own traditional ways.


Paternalistic leadership contains of three main fundamentals -

• Autocratic leadership
• Benevolent leadership and
• Moral leadership

Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership can be explained as that the leaders will make the decision on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from the employees. It always takes control over the team by supreme commanding.

Benevolent Leadership

This much explains that the leadership that focuses on the personal family well being of the employees.

Moral Leadership

This is the leader who guides and shows the path by an example to the subordinate while convincing. Its target is to serve rather than exposing his own skills or capabilities. However, moral leaders will encourage the development of the capabilities of the team.

Characteristics of Paternalistic Leadership

Paternalistic leadership consists of the following features - compassion, good organizational skills, decisiveness, empowerment, and influence.

Compassion

Compassion can describe as that the increases of employee’s loyalty towards the organization.

Good Organizational Skills

This comprises a set of competencies that support the leader’s plan, prioritize, and achieve the final task or the goal.

Decisiveness

This explains the ability to make a decision quickly and effectively using possessed expertise and knowledge

Empowerment

This focuses on given authority or the ownership to a follower to carry out with on achieving a specific target

Influence

It elaborates that the influencing of the subordinates to perform a task by its capability development.

References

StudiousGuy (2018). Paternalistic Leadership Style: Types, Examples. [online] Studiousguy.com. Available at: https://studiousguy.com/paternalistic-leadership-style-types-examples/.

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MN7185 - Concept of Qualities of Leadership

Leadership is having the ability to convince others to route defined goals enthusiastically. It motivates to lead toward the goal. It will be the main factor of an organization or a company to reach their success. As a basic definition leader can be defined as a person that someone can influence and who has managerial authority. The final leadership objective will be to achieve the final goal.

According to Stephen Robbins, "Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of goals.” According to L.P. Alford and H.R. Beatty - "Leadership is the ability to secure desirable actions from a group of followers voluntarily without the use of coercion."

Qualities of Leadership

Certain qualities should possess with the Leaders while influencing and receive the top results from the followers. Different professionals have recommended varied qualities of leadership as Personal Qualities and Managerial Qualities.

Personal Qualities

1. Self-Confidence: Real leader necessary to have self-confidence and strong will power while being enthusiastic and cheerful in case of obstacles will create trust on his dependents.

2. Flexibility: Flexible attitude should possess where a decision or a view should be prepared to alter or change at any given time if required.

3. Take Lead and Initiative: in some issues at uncertainties and complexities, which requires to take decisions promptly while possessing a quality of imagination, creative abilities, and courage to face realities confidently and peacefully.

4. Dynamic Personality: Charming and cheerful personality should possess having strong, good health and cool temper

5. Intellectual Capacity: A leader should be intelligent than his followers and should have the ability to think logically analyze the situation accurately and understand the problems clearly. An intellectual capacity is very vital to be a good leader.

6. Vision and Foresight: Able to anticipate or visualize the probable trends and develop own policies and programs with foresight. Required sound judgment and the ability to take the right decisions at right time.

7. Sense of Responsibilities: should able to bear the burden of all his decisions upon himself and should be dependable so that the subordinates can trust him.

8. Character: Should be a strong character of a leader to set an example before the followers while maintaining traits like honesty, loyalty, and personal integrity and actions and attitudes should be morally justifiable to create confidence among followers.

Managerial Qualities

1. Technical Knowledge: High sound in technical competency in the job and organization where the ability to take the right decisions on different matters. While having good technical knowledge, followers can be guided.

2. Situational Adaptation: Leaders should adapt to the dynamic and rapid changes in the environmental.

3. Motivation Skills: Leaders motivational skills will make followers active towards the work while having knowledge of the needs of subordinates which can apply motivated techniques appropriately.

4. Effective Communication: should maintenance of two-way communication system with followers having free to exchange views freely without interruptions which helps on decision-making where It is an essential characteristics of the leader .

5. Human Relations: A Leader should be social while having the ability to influence and manage followers. Work can be done effectively if having a good relationship between subordinates. Win the confidence and the loyalty of people inspired and motivated.

6. Power of Judgment: Power of judgment and ability to take the right decision at the right time. It depends on one’s self-confidence and self-control while having quality judgment whether the decision made by him is correct or not.

 (Sharma, et al., 2011)

References

Sharma, P., Shrestha, A., Pant, H., Gautam, I., Thapa, R. B., & Upadhyay, P. (2011). Buddha Publication.