Optimal Leadership Styles

Optimal Leadership Styles
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(April 14, 2013)
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Optimal Leadership Styles
Introduction
People works together as teams in serving the target customers, an indication that a contact center environment must employ diverse leadership styles in managing the customer service effectively. Leadership and management has different meanings, it has been noted that management entails doing things in the right way while leadership is about doing only the right things (Leadership and Oraganisational Success, 2012). A manager is a facilitator to the performance of teams while leaders are found in the teams, people with special talents will always crop up, meaning that titles does not refer to leadership, but strengths in a person always prevails. In a customer service perspective, it is important to apply diverse leadership styles in dealing with multicultural customers who have different approaches and different needs (Benincasa, 2012).
Main Body
Shared leadership
Shared leadership in customer service is experienced by maximizing and engaging all the customer service representatives in the contact center. Today’s work environment is ever changing and dynamic in nature, the changing nature of the economic landscape calls for multiple perspectives of dealing with the changes in meeting the changing needs of the customer base. Shared leadership pulls the resources, people and the ideas together in meeting the target vision and mission of the organization (House et al, 2002).
Human resources are enhanced through empowering workers and allowing the employees to take up leadership positions at the exact areas of work or expertise. The markets in the customer service are becoming complex and demanding for new approaches to leadership styles in meeting the needs of the customers. Shared leadership ensures that people plays diverse roles as a unit (Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2001).
Surveys indicated that maximizing talents is one of the best models of enhancing shared leadership. This is made possible through giving more powers to the customer service representatives with the highest levels of prowess in improving their capabilities and strengths. Shared leadership also calls for defining limits on the powers employed in the decision making processes, this is critical in ensuring that the business processes are in control. Shared leadership can also be enhanced by creating a work environment in the contact center where all the employees feels part of the processes and can voluntary take up assignments of their own (Leadership and Oraganisational Success, 2012).
Shared leadership can also be enhanced through allowing the qualified people autonomy and discretion over resources and tasks in encouraging them be more creative in dealing with issues of customer service; and finally, shared leadership can be enhanced by avoiding second guessing the decisions made earlier by people empowered in the contact center. Shared leadership is critical in developing true partnership in the working environment.
Competency persuasive leadership
Leadership competency is all about persuasion and influence, this is very critical in the customer service department where customers has to be influenced and persuaded in accepting the services of the contact center, failure to employ persuasion and influence may mean that the contact center would be out of business. Effective leaders show their competencies through gaining the attention of the potential customers and wining them over to the services of the contact center. The skill of persuading and influencing the decisions made by other people is critical in the business world (Benincasa, 2012).
Surveys has shown that there are a number of conversational competencies that enables leaders to engage peers, stakeholders, staff and clients in a meaningful and productive way. Customer service calls for the application of authentic voice, it has been noted that this is critical in gaining the attention of a potential customer in the contact center. Customers are to be listened to, under such circumstances; the customer service representatives are able to understand the exact and changing needs of the customer (Lencioni, 2002).
Customer service representative must display honest, effective and purposeful conversations. Surveys has shown that dialogue and listening are some of the powerful tools used in influencing and persuading customers, this is enhanced through paraphrasing, open ended questions, non verbal encouragers, feelings of acknowledgement and summarizing. Customer service representatives must show abilities of engaging in conflict resolution conversations, in a way that the customer is left feeling valued. Competency entails the act of influencing and persuading in leadership that allows communicating change, collaborating with other team members and facilitating productive meetings.
Behavioral perspective
Behavioral perspectives in leadership argues on the need of comprehending the motivation aspects that influences the performance of people in the workplaces, some of the behavioral perspectives identifies with understanding the drives through incentives, behavioral perspectives are unlearned while some of the perspectives are learned. It has been noted that physiological needs are part of unlearned drives and learned drives. Physiological needs must be met for survival in attaining homeostatic.
Behavioral theories of leadership works on the leader’s specific behaviors, a leader is very influential to the leadership success (House et al, 2002). Behavior perspective delivers the marketing potential within the workplaces; it can be used in the customer service is influential in delivering the leadership attributes; leadership is about focusing at results. Behavior perspective has been very useful in getting the right response to particular stimuli. Task oriented leaders are critical in customer service representatives, in that such leaders focus on motivation in meeting the roles of initiating, clarifying, organizing and gathering the right information (Leadership and Oraganisational Success, 2012).
People orientation is part of the customer service representative, in the sense that the department deals behaviors in people in meeting the needs of the people, the act of human relation is critical in gaining the support of the customers. Leaders oriented in people are sensitive to the results and tasks obtained. Leaders are critical in observing, encouraging, mentoring, coaching and listening (Lencioni, 2002).
The behaviors of the leaders play a critical role in developing trust among the employees, it has been noted that the same trust is transferred to the customers in developing a competitive edge in the customer service. In a nutshell, the behavior of the leaders fosters creativity, motivation and the general performance of the members of the teams (Leadership and Oraganisational Success, 2012). Results are obtaining by the system of running the contact center. Effective Leaders have the behavior of supporting people emotionally, monitors the junior employees in giving back positive feedbacks, effective leaders recognizes performing employees, allows consultation among the teams and encourage systems of resolving conflicts.
It has been noted that effective leaders communicate effectively, recognize the presence of other team members and their requirements, allowing setting of targets that motivate other employees, encourage creative and enthusiastic environment and fin...