Assess and Develop leadership Skills

This report will focus on work culture of Co-operative bank. It is a retail and commercial banking that operates business in UK. Company headquarters is situated in Balloon Street, Manchester. Further, it will stress on various methods that can review the current leadership needs. It will also focus on various plans that can lead business to great success and improve the leadership aspects. Furthermore, it will give insight on usefulness of methods that are used to plan the development of leadership skills.

TASK 1

1.1 Appropriate methods to review current leadership requirements

There are number of methods that Co-operative Bank can adopt for effective reviewing of leadership requirements. In this support, Blake and Moulton's managerial grid is one of effective methods. Considering Blake and Moulton's managerial grid it can be said that, managerial and leadership can be reviewed by focusing on results and on people (Doherty, 2009). While concerning the results based review' management use it’s all strength to accomplishment of tasks in desired time. In addition to this, it can be said that the management can focus on Blake and Moulton's managerial grid in order to have proper review of outcomes. Strength can be used by manager in order to overcome the strategic issues and Co-operative Bank operational barriers. On the other side, managers focus on importance of employee needs and values. It can be understood by focusing on matrix of managerial styles

As per the structured study of case scenario, it can be said that the current leadership skills are not good within Co-operative Bank which impacts the overall work culture in a negative manner. In addition to this, it has been spotted that the sales issues is one of the critical aspects that influences the overall growth of business. Co-operative Bank sales team is not capable to communicate with the clients in an appropriate manner that creates misleads within environment. It also impacts the overall development of business (Welch, 2014). In order to have better sales, it is essential for the management to ensure that the sales team is having proper information about communication and presentation skills. It will facilitate in attracting more customers by overcoming the mislead issue. In other aspect, it can be said that the improper information about communication and presentation skills is gap that can affect the overall operational opportunities.

In addition to this, improper knowledge about product also creates barrier for sales team of organization. In this respect, it is essential for leader to ensure that the team members have proper information about products and services (Rodrigues, 2005). Improper balance between current skills level and requirement can be considered as a gap which impacts the overall performance.

Other than this, trait theory of leadership is also beneficial and can be adopted by Co-operative Bank. With an assistance of this theory, the characteristics of various leaders can be identified in better manner. For example, after the implementation of strategy the management can observe the results and outcomes in both positive and negative aspects. It will help in making understand that, the leadership style used is effective or not (Karkukly, 2011). The improved focus on trait theory of leadership reduces the risk of failure and leads to great success. It also provides information about the characteristics of leaders as well as even the effective leaders always focuses on interest of the , skills and traits that can affect the success. It also has some other advantages like it provides detailed knowledge and understanding of primary components which are essential in leadership procedure (Marquis, 2009).

In  respect of above statement and review of leadership skills, the Co-operative Bank can also emphasize on 360 degree feedback system. According to Martin (2005) with the help of 360 degree feedback system, the organization can identify various factors that are essential for effective leadership. In this, management can take feedbacks from various employees and groups in understanding the effectiveness of leadership (Martin, 2005). For example, the Co-operative Bank is looking for business expansion and they have implemented new strategy. In this case, the management of Co-operative Bank stresses on 360 degree feedback system and take feedbacks from the employees about the leader and the working style. It will facilitate in understanding the effectiveness of leadership style. Other than this, in this feedback system organization can also determine the strength and weakness of various personalities as well as organization. This process essentially requires self assessment questionnaire that will help in overcoming the weakness and exploring strength in better way.

After this, it can also be said that, the management by objectives is also one of review methods which the Co-operative Bank can adapt in reviewing the leadership skills. It is also refereed as a most common technique that is used in evaluating the process of leadership and management styles. Bannò (2015) has stated that, the management by objectives is a system which aims on various leadership factors that plays a key role in accomplishment of organizational goals (Bannò, 2015). In this process, the leadership style or skills can be analyzed by focusing on involvement of all management levels in the development actions. It is also helpful in determining the performance of individual. In this, it is necessary to make sure that, top level managers have designed goals effectively and conveyed them to the lower management so that, goals can be accomplished in better way (Cassidy, 2006).  This system is also referred as a potential system that renders opportunities to employees for accepting responsibility and leads the firm to high level by effective contribution of individual.

Co-operative management skills 2013

Moreover, strategic and operational issues; both are different and it can influence the overall performance of organization. In addition to this, it can be said that the operational issue can impact the business operational activities for short term period. On the other side, strategic issue influences the business activities for long term period. For example, the operational issue within co-operative bank is improper coordination among team members (Rodrigues, 2005). It may impact the business for short term period and create few issues. Strategic issue can be improper selection of leadership skill. It may decline the morale of employees and may lead business to long term failure issues.

1.2 Plan for development of future situations requiring leadership

It has been identified that, every business requires leaders who have skills to deal with diverse situations. It is also necessary for good leader to take correct decision at the time when it is required. There are some future situations where company needs leaders for success and for dealing with various aspects.

Conflict resolution: It has been evaluated that, every business face conflict situations and it is necessary for organization to overcome it. In other words, it can be said that, the conflicts are sometime beneficial and sometime not. The situations in which leaders are able to find the ways to overcome issue can be considered as beneficial (Holbeche, 2009). In this respect, it can be said that the communication issue can be overcome by the management with an assistance of conflict resolution.  It will also provide an opportunity to find out new ideas for overcoming the issues and also for understanding about the weakness of organization. In this situation, leader must be aware of the weakness so that, new ideas can be analyzed to overcome issue. It is necessary for leader to resolve conflicts to achieve success. In this situation, leaders of the Co-operative Bank can use autocratic as well as democratic leadership according to the situation and conflicts (Leat, 2012).

Merger and Acquisition: It has been identified that, every business face some issues at the time of merger or acquisition situation so it is necessary for firms to focus on effective leadership to solve issues. In the support of this, it can be said that, it is a situation where Co-operative bank can buy Britannia. In this situation the leaders of Co-operative bank should focus on various difficult decisions (Plinio, 2014). Leader should emphasize on accurate calculation of process and must consider positive sides of market trends so that, merger and acquisition goals can be accomplished in better manner. In the support of this, it can be said that presentation skills can be improved by the management through merger and acquisition. For example, the management can focus on collective working of employees so that cross cultural communication aspects can also be improved in an appropriate manner. It will lead business to impressive level of success.  It is also necessary for leader of the Co-operative bank to have deep thinking and improved focus on vision to meet the objectives. At last, good leader also need to consider the prospects of employees and predict the future of organization while getting involved in merger or acquisition process (Houghton, 2004).

Recession: It has been identified that, the key issue which affects the business of every organization is recession situation and change economic conditions. Nowadays, this issue is faced in various economic sectors that impacts negatively (Johns, 2012). In this, it is necessary for leader to have better information about economic conditions so that, clear cut policies can be formed to overcome the issue. It is one of scenario which can easily test the leadership by monitoring of  actions that are taking placed in order to overcome the issue.

Adaptation for change in technology: Change is the situation where organizations face various problems and it is necessary for leaders to adopt various ways which can assist in accepting the changes. In support of this, it can be said that, Co-operative bank can manage change effectively by focusing on strong leadership styles. Company faces issues during change due to various negative factors that indicates that leaders need to focus on those factors to find optimistic ways (Robinson, 2002). The key factor is the change in technology and perception of employees towards product and company. Most of the employees do not accept change because they perceive that, use of new technology may decrease their performance and they can face some difficulties in using. In this situation, the leader is required to emphasize democratic leadership style so that, they can understand the perception of workers and solve their issues (Rodrigues, 2005). Leader of Co-operative bank can provide employees with the benefits of changes in technology and then motivate them to adapt modifications for personal and professional development.

Natural disaster: It is very critical situation that affects the work environment and lead business to various issues. In this situation, the leadership is essential because at this time employees get frightened and is suffering from various negative thoughts. If leader is capable and have skills to motivate and handle the strange situations then, company can easily overcome issue in the better way (Griffin, 2009). Leader can motivate manpower in performing their duties efficiently with overcoming the issues. At last, leader must have capability and skills to restore the confidence level of employees to improve organization productivity.

Other than this, risk taking method is also beneficial for co-operative bank as it provides a better opportunity to lead business towards impressive level of success. In support of this, it can be identified that the risk taking method will create responsibility aspects within organization. It will also motivate employees to take responsibilities in appropriate manner and lead business to better opportunities.

1.3 Plan the development of leadership skills for a specific requirement

It has been spotted that, leadership is one of critical factor which every organization need to consider for achieving success. In this support, there are number of skills which every leader must have for better operations. In this task, learning will focus on development of leadership skills so that, certain goals can be accomplished (Luthans, 2005). It is necessary for leader or manager of Co-operative bank to have good leadership skills and should focus on continuous development by applying in the situations as per need. Good leader always have appropriate skills and is reflected in their behaviour.

In this support, it can be said that the organization can use various training and development methods in order to amend its skills. In order to improve need identification skills the management can focus on role plays. It will provide better opportunity to amend overall skills and lead business to impressive level of success. Communication skills also play a vital role in development of leadership skills so it is necessary for the manager of Co-operative bank to focus on the development of communication skills. In order to improve the communication skills, seminars and conferences are considered as the most critical methods (Goldring and Porter, 2009). It will amend the morale of leader and helps in communicating leadership message to the followers. Moreover, it can also be asserted that the formal training, self study, mentoring and coaching are also beneficial methods that can amend the overall performance. It is also advantageous for continuous improvement in skills and to overcome the gap ratio in order to lead business to impressive level of success.

Furthermore, regular coaching sessions can be arranged by the management of Co-operative bank in order to lead business to the impressive level of success. It has also been identified that the meeting skills can also been improved by the management through proper monitoring (Phillips, 2011). Enhanced level of monitoring is also beneficial to identify the key needs of issues and needs so that proper ways can be adopted to enhance the development ratio.

To have correct development of leadership skills it is necessary for manager of Co-operative bank focus and use of own influence power. It is to motivate and change the perception employees in an easy manner (Oshagbemi, 2006). Other than this, the inspiration is also one of critical factor that every good leader needs to consider. If leader is self inspired in bringing some changes in work culture then, employees will also feel motivated to accept the changes. This indicates that, followers respect the leader's perception so it is necessary for manager of Co-operative bank to develop leadership skills. Further, effective leadership skills can be developed and enhanced with improved consideration of employee’s empowerment. It also helps in influencing employee’s perception (Phillips, 2011).

In order to develop leadership skills it is necessary for the manager of Co-operative bank to emphasize on learning from mistakes. It will provide accurate information about diverse situations and issues that leaders have faced. It will provide various innovative ways to overcome issues. For example, the manager of Co-operative bank has implemented a strategy to improve work culture but the outcome was not optimistic (Perdue, 2013). In this situation, the leader can examine the implemented strategy and can understand the reasons behind the failure. It will help in designing future strategy and implementation. Other than this, it is also necessary for the leader to have correct and improved skills of communication. To enhance the communication skills the leader can focus on democratic leadership styles. It will improve the interaction among all members and will establish better relation to have effective communication skills.

Other than this, the manager of Co-operative bank can also focus on various training and development programs to develop leadership skills. It will help leader in understanding the weakness and stretching the capable boundaries. In this process, the leader will participate in the training and development programs to understand the good leadership behaviour. It is also beneficial in identifying the gap between leadership and management (Phillips, 2011). The improved information about all these factors will facilitate leaders of Co-operative bank to become good leader. It is also necessary for good leader to emphasize on adapting change for success of organization. However,   to have continuous development of leadership skills the managers of Co-operative bank can focus on change adaptation (Luthans, 2005).

For example, if the organization is bringing some change then leader can measure and analyse the change. It will improve the leadership understanding and will also facilitate in providing better information about various changes. In this respect, it is also necessary for the leader to motivate the staff members to accept the technology changes (Oshagbemi, 2006). Leader must possess confidence and determine the vision in the correct manner so that, organization can have better operations. The improvement in all these factors will increase the self confidence of leader and will motivate them to further develop their interpersonal skills.

Other than this, to have better development in leadership skills, the management of Co-operative bank can organize various seminars and conferences to enhance the skill. In this seminars and conferences the leaders and managers can participate in improving their understanding about leadership and continuous development in skills. It will help managers of Co-operative bank to manage diverse factors within the organization that is beneficial for finer success and effective development of skills (Griffin, 2009). For example, the Co-operative bank has conducted a seminar regarding development of communication skills to meet needs of employees or effective relationship. If manager or leaders will participate in this seminar then, they can easily manage various communication factors or can improve employee relationship with the help of communication skills development.

Coordination skills are also necessary for every effective leader so it is necessary for Co-operative bank to focus on developing coordination skills. Leaders can develop coordination skills by focusing on integrity maintenance among diverse divisions of organization (Rodrigues, 2005). It will also have positive impact on discipline factor at work culture that is beneficial for improvement in coordination skills. Moreover, to have effective development of leadership it is also necessary for the organization and leaders to focus on some other factors. Such as honesty and well-being, it will bring better development opportunities.

Action Plan

TASK 2

2.1 Usefulness of methods used to plan the development of leadership skills

It has been identified that, there are number of methods which can be used by managers of Co-operative bank to develop leadership skills. Further, the meeting with employees is one of the best techniques for enhancing leadership skills plan. With an assistance of meeting with employees, the firm can easily find various ideas that can boost the leadership aspects within the organization (Robinson, 2002). For example, the management can have meeting with its employees and spot the key weakness and issues which they are facing. After this, the management can design its plan in the better way for effective development of leadership skills.

Other than this, the feedback 360 method can also be used by the organization and leaders to develop effective leadership skill plan. For example, the leaders can take feedback from its followers and ask them the issue which they face at work place. With an assistance of 360 degree feedback process, the management can also identify their own weakness and needs of employees. It is the most commonly used method which can be adopted by Co-operative bank to gather information about various leadership aspects. It will also facilitate leader in understanding their skills status (Rodrigues, 2005). In respect to the development of leadership skills plan it can be said that the leaders and organization can focus on various actions that can increase the interaction among leaders and followers by focusing creating familiar environment. It is also beneficial to have better understanding of employees, leader’s needs and perception that helps in effective management of actions (Griffin, 2009).

Co-operative bank management can also focus on observation and examination of seminars, meetings, training, mistake graph, etc. for developing leadership skills plan. In this process, the leaders of Co-operative bank can observe previous statistical data which reflects the information about the leadership aspects and developments. After the analysis of previous seminars, meetings, training, mistake graph the management can design better plan (Doherty, 2009). For example, the organization has examined previous training plans and identified that the former plan was focused on time management. So, after the evolution management can design development plan and focus on some other skills like communication instead of time management.

Other than this, the company can also emphasize exchange visits as it is beneficial for development of leadership skills. Members can visit different departments within the organization or any other organization for development of skills. It will improve the leadership skills in context of diversified work management. For example, the Co-operative bank has adopted exchange visits method. Under this process, the finance manager can visit the sales department and observes the working nature of sales department (Karkukly, 2011). He has observed the leadership techniques and methods which sales manager use in developing skills and to motivate employees. After the critical observation, the finance manager has acknowledged about some new leadership techniques that can also boost the effectiveness of finance department. Self-awareness is also one of significant method that can be used by Co-operative bank for development of leadership skills (Doherty, 2009).

As per the above development action plan, it can be said that the leadership skills can be developed in an effective manner. With an assistance of self study, the manager of Co-operative bank can gather information regarding diverse factors which can amend its career opportunities and skills. Self study is also beneficial for the management because it provides an ability to understand the organizational factors in a proper manner (Doherty, 2009). Moreover, formal training is also advantageous to improve the leadership skills. With an assistance of formal training, firm can easily find various ideas that can boost the leadership aspects within organization. It is also beneficial to have better understanding of employees, leader’s needs and perception that helps in an effective management of actions.

Furthermore, the conferences and coaching methods also improve the skills of members in a diverse manner. Conferences provide an opportunity to have direct interaction with various industrial experts and overcome various issues that impacts the overall performance. Coaching medium is also advantageous for the manager of Co-operative bank because it provides practical learning which can improve the number of skills (Rodrigues, 2005). Monitoring can help in designing development plan and can focus on some other skills like communication instead of time management.

There are several qualities which are required to bring success in team that is why leadership is required and it is one of those crucial feature that leads the team towards the desired goals and objectives. Being a good leader is not an easy task as it requires someone to be brave and who has the courage and power to take tough decisions for attaining the targets and goals. There are various factors and traits which are required to be a good leader-

For the purpose of being a good leader, an individual must be aware of every aspect of life. The leader needs to create an open line communication with the other members. It is necessary to be straightforward so that the company will follow honest and ethical behaviour.  

• A good leaderhas to be filled with confidence about themselves and their decisions which leads to bringmore clarity of mind and thoughts. This clarity will provide a sense of confidence among the people in order to make them feel that their leader knows what he or she is doing.    
• To be a good leader, theyshould know how to lead a group and people for the purpose of achieving something unique for the company. A good leader always come up with unique vision which inspires people.
• A good leader always makes sure about their personal development and self-awareness by prioritising their goals and taking responsibility to accomplish the targets.   

As Information technology (IT) industry is a vast industry which provides various services such as consulting, outsourcing and various services of information technology. Some companies which are at dominating position and are considered as Information technology (IT) giants abusing the leaders by using their power in the market and towards senior officials in the technology industry. For example, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple were criticised for the purpose of their power in the market. It can be said that Apple has control over other apps, google has control over online adverting and Amazon over the third party sellers.

The term Biocentrism is defined as all the environment ethics that are related to the status of moral objectives from all the human beings to the other living things in nature. Biocentrism considers all living things and it is the understanding the way earth works and mainly it is related to biodiversity and biosphere. It is related to the nature and the bio centrists observe all the species with inherent values.

The term Non-anthropocentric requires an extension and revision of standard ethical principles which helps in granting moral standing to various natural objects as animals, plants and landscapes. The above mentioned term does not include humans and over the last period, environmental ethics has expanded as a new sub-diffusive of moral philosophy.  

CONCLUSION

As per the above study it can be concluded that, strategic management is a continuous process that includes various actions such as planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment of various critical factors in order to meet the objectives and goals of firm.  It has been identified that, Blake and Moulton's managerial grid is one of effective methods which is accessible for reviewing leadership requirements. In respect of above statement and review of leadership skills the Co-operative Bank can also focus on 360 degree feedback system. To have correct development of leadership skills it is necessary for manager of Co-operative bank to have focus and use its own influence power. Other than this, to have better development in leadership skills, the management of Co-operative bank can organize various seminars and conferences to have better development.

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• Goldring, E. and Porter, A., (2009). Assessing learning-centered leadership: Connections to research, professional standards, and current practices. Leadership and Policy in Schools. 8(1). pp.1-36.
• Griffin, R. and Moorhead, G., (2009). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Sage.
• Hilderbrand, J., (2011). Bridging the Gap: a training module in personal and professional development. Karnac Books.
• Holbeche, L., (2009). Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy. Routledge.
• Houghton, D. J. and et.al., (2004). The relationship between self-leadership and personality: A comparison of hierarchical factor structures. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 19(4). pp.427 – 441.
• Johns, H., (2012). Personal Development in Counsellor Training. SAGE.
• Karkukly, W., (2011). An Investigation Into Outsourcing of Pmo Functions for Improved Organizational Performance: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study. Trafford Publishing.
• Leat, M., (2012). Exploring Employee Relations. Routledge.

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