Direction represents one of the essential functions
of management
It deals with human relations
It is a managerial function of guiding
motivating leading supervising the
subordinates to accomplish desired
objectives.
Without proper direction employees may go
inactive and dull
It is the action phase of management requiring the
leadership and management skills necessary to
accomplish the goals of the organization.
Directing consist of process and techniques
utilized in issuing instruction and make certain
that operations are carried out as originally
planned
It help to initiate plan and implementation in all
organization
It integrates employees action
Help to maximize the out put
Facilitates changes in organization
Provides stability in organization
Help to achieve the goals
Reduce the reluctance to changes
Pervasive function : performed at all levels of
organization
Continuous activity
Human factor : deals with subordinates
Creative function : create link between preparatory
and control function
Executive function : direction starts at top level
management
Delegate function : delicacy in it to tackle the human
behavior
Maximum individual contribution
Harmony of objectives
Effective communication
Efficient control
Unit of command
Efficiency
Supervision
Follow through
Comprehension
Feedback information
An order is issued by management
as a tool for direction. As a
directional technique , instruction is
understood to be a charge by superior
requiring a subordinate to act or refrain
from action in a given circumstances
Reasonable and enforceable over subordinates
Should be clearly defined and easy to understand
Should facilitates the achievements of
organization
Complete in all aspects
Exhorts the willingness and acceptance
Written order
Should use appropriate tone in issuing
Time specified and intelligible
Consultative direction
Free rein direction
Autocratic direction
Superior will have consultation with the
subordinates before issuing orders
Consultation is made to know the feasibility
enforceability and nature of problem
Ultimately superior has right to take any decision
and give the directions
Subordinates are encouraged to solve the
problem independently
Only highly educated intelligent and sincere
subordinates are required to apply these direction
technique
This is opposite of free rein direction
Superior commands his subordinates and has
close supervision
Now way left to the subordinates to show their
initiates..
A). Leadership
B). Motivation
C). Communication
Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct,
guide and influence the behavior and work of others towards
accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation.
Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce the
subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.
Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of
others. It is also defined as the capacity to influence a group
towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to
develop future visions, and to motivate the organizational
members to want to achieve the visions.
According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the ability to
persuade others to seek defined objectives
enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a
group together and motivates it towards goals.”
It is a inter-personal process in which a manager is into
influencing and guiding workers towards attainment of goals.
It denotes a few qualities to be present in a person which
includes intelligence, maturity and personality.
It is a group process. It involves two or more people interacting
with each other.
A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of
the group towards accomplishment of organizational goals.
Leadership is situation bound. There is no best style of
leadership. It all depends upon tackling with the situations.
An effective and ethical leader has the following traits /
characteristics:
Dignity and respectfulness: He respects others. An ethical
leader should not use his followers as a medium to achieve
his personal goals. He should respect their feelings, decision
and values. Respecting the followers implies listening
effectively to them, being compassionate to them, as well as
being liberal in hearing opposing viewpoints. In short, it
implies treating the followers in a manner that authenticate
their values and beliefs.
Serving others: He serves others. An ethical leader should
place his follower’s interests ahead of his interests. He
should be humane. He must act in a manner that is always
fruitful for his followers.
Justice: He is fair and just. An ethical leader must treat all his
followers equally. There should be no personal bias. Wherever
some followers are treated differently, the ground for differential
treatment should be fair, clear, and built on morality.
Community building: He develops community. An ethical
leader considers his own purpose as well as his followers’
purpose, while making efforts to achieve the goals suitable to
both of them. He is considerate to the community interests. He
does not overlook the followers’ intentions. He works harder for
the community goals.
Honesty: He is loyal and honest. Honesty is essential to be an
ethical and effective leader. Honest leaders can be always
relied upon and depended upon. They always earn respect of
their followers. An honest leader presents the fact and
circumstances truly and completely, no matter how critical and
harmful the fact may be. He does not misrepresent any fact.
All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective. The
leadership style varies with the kind of people the leader interacts
and deals with. A perfect/standard leadership style is one which
assists a leader in getting the best out of the people who follow
him.
Some of the important leadership styles are as follows:
Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership, a leader has
complete command and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot
put forward their views even if they are best for the team’s or
organizational interests. They cannot criticize or question the leader’s way
of getting things done. The leader himself gets the things done.
The advantage of this style is that it leads to speedy decision-
making and greater productivity under leader’s supervision.
Drawbacks of this leadership style are that it leads to greater
employee absenteeism and turnover. This leadership style works
only when the leader is the best in performing or when the job is
monotonous, unskilled and routine in nature or where the project is
short-term and risky.
Democrative/Participative leadership style: The leaders
invite and encourage the team members to play an important role in
decision-making process, though the ultimate decision-making
power rests with the leader. The leader guides the employees on
what to perform and how to perform, while the employees
communicate to the leader their experience and the suggestions if
any. The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads to
satisfied, motivated and more skilled employees. It leads to an
optimistic work environment and also encourages creativity. This
leadership style has the only drawback that it is time-consuming.
Bureaucratic leadership: Here the leaders strictly adhere to the
organizational rules and policies. Also, they make sure that the
employees/team also strictly follows the rules and procedures.
Promotions take place on the basis of employees’ ability to adhere
to organizational rules. This leadership style gradually develops over
time. This leadership style is more suitable when safe work
conditions and quality are required. But this leadership style
discourages creativity and does not make employees self-
contented.
The Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Here, the leader totally
trusts their employees/team to perform the job themselves. He just
concentrates on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work and
does not focus on the management aspect of his work.
The team/employees are welcomed to share their views and
provide suggestions which are best for organizational interests.
This leadership style works only when the employees are skilled,
loyal, experienced and intellectual.
Level 5 leaders are modest, shy and fearless and
possess the capability to transform an organization
from good to great without portraying themselves as
wizards with magic wands. They prefer talking about the
company and the contribution of other people but rarely
about their role or achievements. Let us have a look at the
hierarchical level of leadership identified:
The first step if their ability to identify and include right people
with them towards achieving goals. Unlike the traditional
method of building strategies and then looking for the right
people to carry them out, they take a different route. It’s
about getting the right people on board and then deciding on
the destination.
They also do not shy away from facing and accepting brutal
truths and realities of data, numbers and situations but at the
same time they do not lose hope of a better future.
They also strive towards aligning consistent efforts towards a
goal, rather than giving one massive push they believe in
small but firm pushes to bring in the momentum.
They also exercise their judgment to understand an aspect, in
depth and thoroughly, rather than burdening themselves with
myriad information.
They practice and encourage a disciplined approach towards
their work life and as visionaries use carefully identified
technologies to give their businesses strategic advantage.