Authentic Leadership, Leader-Member Exchange, and Psychological Capital
The aim of this study is to discuss the various factors and details associated with the concept of leadership. In the initial part of the study, the discussion will be focused on the relationship between a leadership that is authentic, leader-member exchange and the psychological capital of an employee. After that, the focus will shift to covering various techniques and processes that are implemented to build and develop psychological capital different kinds of employees. A study in relation to the different kinds of employees will also be dwelled upon. Various details will be discussed on the different types of leadership approaches that need to be applied in various situations. An extended discussion on the emotional factors that affect different people differently will also be discussed.
The relationship between Authentic leadership, Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and employees’ Psychological Capital (PsyCap)
The term authentic leadership can also be explained as an approach that is unique and positive in its implementation. Authentic leadership takes into context both the positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational culture. When dealing with the criterion for authentic leadership, an individual needs to be self-aware, self-controlled, optimistic and composed in demeanour. Rationality, regional transparency and balanced processing capabilities are the primary requirements for an authentic leader (Cotter-Lockard, Cotter-Lockard and Barlow, 2017).
Leader-Member Exchange is a theory that defines a two-way theory between leaders and their subordinates. In theory, a leader develops a relationship which of each his/her subordinates and the overall position of this leader-subordinate relationship is a primary factor in the efficiency and overall performance of these subordinates. A good Leader-Member Exchange in essential in ensuring an effective development of a positive workplace influence and team performance (Liu, Liao and Wei, 2015).
The psychological capital of an employee can be defined as job satisfaction and work interest of that particular employee. The Psychological capital of an employee increases with the increase in his/her job satisfaction. It can be explained as a positive force that helps employees indulge in their work and contributes to the overall success of the company (Dollwet and Reichard, 2014).
The relationship between these three is simple. An authentic leader is required to establish a successful Leader MeLeader-Membermber Exchange, a successful and effective leader Member exchange increases the psychological capital of an employee and ultimately leads to better organizational development. An accurate leadership also has the capacity to increase the overall psychological profile of the gross workforce which further develops the over leader-member exchange. Psychological satisfaction is the ultimate parameter that needs to be maintained effectively to ensure that integrity of the organizational structure (Forrier, Verbruggen and De Cuyper, 2015).
Professional against administrative employees: administrative employees are individuals who accept validation in the form of their rate of wages. It can be established with confidence that executive employees receive comfortable remuneration and different facilities at the organization and this their overall efficiency can be less than professional employees (Dubos, 2017). Administrative employees for the top echelon of an organization while professional employees work under them. Though overall work done by a professional employee is much more than that of an executive one, their remuneration is comparatively much less. There is a need for both the type of employees in an organization. The executive employees handle administration while the professional ones perform designated tasks without having any broader perspective of how their work will affect the company (Karatepe and Karadas, 2015).
Building Psychological Capital in Different Types of Employees
It is essential to create a positive workforce culture in order to maintain high and constant performance levels. Several factors have to be considered in order to develop and maintain a positive workforce environment. Professional space is different than personal space and thus an employee must understand and regulate temperaments and check emotional factors in order to maintain organizational progress (Breevaart et al. 2015). Emotional labour is a term that was first used by sociologist Arlie Hochschild and refers to the context of managing different emotional turbulences in employees that may arise at a workplace and resolving these issues without hampering the rest of the workforce thus preserving the culture of the workforce.
When an economy based on manufacturing changes to the service-based economy the issue of emotional labour becomes more essential and relevant. Service-based professions require direct and often face to face encounters with a customer and maintain etiquette and professional courtesy becomes more essential (Luthans, Norman, Avolio and Avey, 2015). It is imperative that an employee acts politely with a customer even if the politeness is not natural and the employee is suffering from some kind of personal disturbance. The emotional labour for different for different kinds of work. Employees are trained in displaying certain emotions while withholding others depending on the kind of responsibilities they are expected to handle in the workplace. A professional psychological profile needs to be built by a leader in his/her employees in order to maximise efficiency (Siu, Cheung and Lui, 2015).
Blue collar employees against the white-collar employees: a blue-collar employee is an individual who primarily performs manual work. These types of employees are usually paid on an hourly basis and the jobs mostly don’t require any specific specialisation. The psychological capital of blue-collar employees is precious as their work involves physically demanding tasks and the remunerations are low (Wong and Laschinger, 2013). The sensitive nature of these employees psychological profile makes the organization vulnerable and prone to damages as too much pressure on blue-collar employees can breed stress and negativity and since manual labour is the backbone of any organization it is important to keep these employees satisfied. The need to provide with sufficient remuneration for their labour and encouraged regularly in order to maximise their job satisfaction and protect them from demoralization (Anderson, Baur, Griffith and Buckley, 2017).
A white collar employee is essentially a person who works from an office. Their job description includes minimal, if any, manual or physical labour and involves a certain amount of specialization in order to perform their designated jobs. However, it needs to be understood that though white-collar employees receive adequate remuneration and are not strained physically, they are equally prone to emotional distress and demotivation. Continuous pressure at a workplace can be a cause for exhaustion and stress. Thus a positive leadership approach is essential to handle these situations while simultaneously maintain organisational integrity (Liden, Wayne, Liao and Meuser, 2014).
The problems faced by the blue-collar employees and the white collared employees are very different each other and require different approaches a positive approach from the leadership that values the inputs and contributions of its subordinates pertaining to different levels of the organisational hierarchy. Working together to arrive at feasible solutions like shortening working hours for blue-collar employees and increasing wages for the white collar ones are key to mitigating problems and maintaining a positive workforce culture (Hirst et al. 2016). It is essential for the leadership to maintain a healthy and constant relationship with all their employees to ensure the motivation and proper functioning of the organisation.
Emotional Labor
It imperative for employees from different backgrounds to function together to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity. Different sense of identities in the reform of perspective, ethnicity, generation, all coagulate in a workplace and it is essential for a leader to understand how these differences might threaten the integrity of the workforce and result in chaos. It is the duty of a leader to make the employees understand the positive outcomes of a diverse workforce and how different cultures may provide with different problem-solving approaches that will ultimately contribute to the progress of the organisation. In this context, emotional labour is of utmost importance. In the following narrative, two different types of challenges t organizational integrity are discussed and relevant solutions are suggested.
A generic workplace has constitutes of employees from various different generations. At one particular point of time, a minimum number of 5 generations may be at work and functioning together. It is natural for these generations to have difference both culturally and intellectually. While young generations will be intellectually inferior hay may support rash decision making and ambitious agendas that may have an impact on their workflow. The older generations will be much more composed but do not have the capacity to make decisions on pure instinct. These differences may lead to clashes and may form separate groups in the work which is completely unacceptable and undesirable i a workforce. The primary responsibility of leaders to bridge these generation gaps by opening up a rational channel of communication and to oversee these communications and preside on discussions about achieving common ground on such matters. The only way to avoid such a mess is communication and a leader need to manipulate the workforce to stabilise the psychological capital of the entire workforce and not only one specific group (Qadeer and Jaffery, 2014).
Another issue that haunts positive corporate culture is biased towards different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds that may be present in an inclusive workplace. Diversity is one of the strongest factors in creating a strong corporate backbone for a company. Different cultures incorporate different ideas into a workforce and promote tolerance and brotherhood. However since being inclusive also means including people who come from backgrounds that encourage and facilitate certain biases and intolerant behavioural approaches towards different ethnic communities. Racial antagonism and ethnic segregation can destroy the integrity of a workplace completely and t is of primary importance for a leader and manager to see to it that such biases based on Religion, caste, skin colour, gender, age, sexual orientation and ethnic backgrounds are eliminated swiftly and effectively. Strict rules and regulations should be enforced against racism and decisions made should be swiftly followed through so as to avoid any further problems that may arise if these issues are not addressed sufficiently
Although not quantifiable, a disengaged workplace culture affect the performance of the workforce severely. Thus managing emotions an essential part of maintaining order and ensuring maximum output from a workforce. Positive values like hope, optimism, motivation, etc. boost confidence and productivity while negative values like stress, overwork, pessimism and antagonism can demoralize the workforce an decrease in productivity. Thus it is essential for the management to maintain a positive outlook towards their workforce as they play a significant role in maintaining a positive environment. Emotions, like commands and instructions, are also susceptible to being transmitted through interactions between the different stages of the organizational hierarchy and thus it is imperative that leaders and managers transmit a positive attitude that can be carried forward by the different elements of the workforce. Though rules and regulations are in place to keep the demeanour of workforce in check maintaining positivity is not their sole responsibility. Managers and leaders should keep an open channel of communication between them and the workforce and encourage positivity and motivation.
Blue Collar Employees vs. White Collar Employees
An authentic leader needs to manage their own psychological capital themselves and not be dependant on others to solve their own personal emotional baggage. It is imperative for them to maintain a healthy and polite relationship with their workforce. Moreover whatever their personal issues might be it is essential that they transmit a positive outlook towards their subordinated at all time. Maintaining composure is another essential quality in an authentic leader. During times of turmoil, it is the leader’s responsibility to reassure their subordinated even if they are not completely convinced about how a solution might be achieved. Transmitting a negative attitude towards problems by the leader can lead to widespread panic in the workforce. Employees may get disoriented and the integrated work culture might dissolve. Emotional labour is a factor that is applicable to every member of an organization and emotional turbulence amongst leaders and managers have adverse effects on the workforce.
References
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