Suppose you aim to score flying colors in your assignments, it is a group assignment, however most of your best friends aim a lot lower and they only hope to pass the assignment in order not to fail the subject. And you know that if you collaborate with your friends, the overall performance will be less satisfying, because your goals are in contrast. So right now, you can either choose to work with your friends as a group or join with those friends whom you are not so close with but competent and desire to get excellent results.
However, consequences of the choices are varied. If you choose your friends, your result will be burdened. But if you choose other competent teammates, you might be treated as a betrayer or accused of being a non-teamwork spirit in that group.
This can be related to the concept on Black Mouton Managerial Grid, which is a popular framework for us to think about a leader’s “task versus person” orientation (Blake and Mouton, 1964). There are two extremes in the leadership behaviour, which are the leaders who concern on production or the leaders who concern on people. The leader who concerns on production puts high focus on achieving effective and efficient results and productivity but cares little about the people. On the other hand, the leader who concerns on people will consider the needs of the team members before deciding how to get the job done.
There are five different leadership styles developed in the framework:
Impoverished Leader
(Low concern for both productivity and people)
Country Club Leader
(Low concern for productivity and high concern for people)
Middle-of-the-road Leader
(Medium concern for both productivity and people)
Authority-Compliance Leader
(High concern for productivity and low concern for people)
Team Leader
(High concern for both productivity and people)
Generally, a team leader is the best leadership styles as there is mutual regard and respect between the manager and the employees. It then leads to better decision-making because when a leader has built trust and rapport with the team members, they will feel comfortable to offer insights and opinions in the workplace.
An example of a well-performed team leader is where he sets a high standard for his employees, in the meanwhile rewards them with incentives for getting the job done on time. He accomplishes by setting the production goals and work with the employees to ensure that all their needs are met.
As a manager, the employees may behave undesirably, as example always being late to work. You have told him countless times to come early, but he is still being late. So would you scold him or even send him the warning letter, and if he continues, he will be terminated without any concern? Would you be that “cruel”? Or what is your choice? This is often the problems that you would deal with in the workplace.
To be concluded, the most ideal leadership style is the team leader who concerns both the employee’s productivity and wellbeing. Similarly, it would be the best if you can transform your friends and aspire to study, you then successfully fulfil both people and result orientation. Hence, the best answer to the question is Productivity AND Wellbeing!
References:
- Blake, R. and Mouton, J. (1964). The Managerial Grid. Houston: Gulf Publishing Company.
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