Топик: Leadership in Hospitality Industry

There are two principal components of the strategic leadership: path-finding and culture-building. First relates an organization to the business environment and the second one helps to people into membership of an organization. The role of the organizational leadership is to identify what organization it will be and where it is going. A very important thing to say is that managers must look beyond the routine daily operations in order “to find a better way” (Nicholls, http://www.emeraldinsight.com). In strategic leadership managers must use their head to ensure the effectiveness of the organization.

The hands

A supervisory leadership is the job of the mangers hands. Every manager is familiar with this kind of leadership in his or her particular situation. In other they are familiar with the job that has to be done and the people that will do that job.

Charisma

The concept of charisma comes to us from Romans. Also in the New Testament it refers to gift from the Holy Spirit. Max Weber used this term for theological use. He viewed charisma as “a pure form of authority based on of the gift of diving grace” (Weber, 1968).

Contemporary conceptualization of charismatic leadership have become inclusive of more leaders as the concept changed over the time (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0025-1747.htm).

“The concept of charisma has fertilized the study of leadership. The term has taken on a number of different, but over planning meanings: leaders’ magical qualities; emotional bond between leader and led etc.” (Paul et al, http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0025-1747.htm).

A lot of theories of charismatic leadership appeared. These theories did not emphasise the role of charisma, instead they take a look at leader’s vision and values. For example, “Berlew (1974) suggested that leaders who attempt to bring change in organizations were similar to charismatic leaders trying to effect changes in society” (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0025-1747.htm).

House (1977) defined charismatic leadership as “a leader who has a high degree of charismatic effects on followers. According to House, followers of charismatic leader become more self-confident and can set and accept higher goals.

All of the contemporary charismatic leadership theories include elements related to a leader’s emphasis on a purpose, vision, or mission (House and Shamir, 1993).

Gender differences in leadership styles

Over the past two decades there is a debate about whether female and male managers have different leadership styles.

Though the early 1990s the research showed that there were no gender differences in leadership styles. Even though a lot of researches support the view that there are no gender differences in leadership styles, some differences were identified. Those differences were identified based on self-reported data collected from a sample of male and female accountants (Burke et al, http://www.emeraldinsight.com).

According to Powel (1993), intuitive reasoning suggest that early socialization patterns develop different qualities in women and men that would likely result in variations in leadership styles. The earlier research found a lack of for the notion that women utilize different leadership styles than do men (Bass, 1981) (Burke et al, http://www.emeraldinsight.com).

Hospitality Leadership

“A major influence on effective performance in the hospitality industry is the nature of the manager-subordinate relationship. This entails the process of leadership and the choice of an appropriate style of managerial behaviour” (Mullins, 1998, p.397).

A good manager should have solid character traits, leadership skills and good management ethics. The good question is: “What is the difference between managing and leading?”

One leadership teacher defined it as follows:

MANAGER	LEADER
Administers Is a copy Maintains Focuses on system+structure Relies on control Has a short-range view Asks how and when Has an eye on the bottom line Initiates Accepts status quo Does things right	Innovates Is an original Develops Focuses on people Inspires trust Has a long-range perspective Asks what and why Has an eye on the horizon Originates Challenges it Does the right thing

(http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~ha100c-c/class/management/leadership/lesson1-2-1.html)

In the beginning of development of the hospitality industry, when a lot of the hospitality organizations were family owned, leadership was associated with ownership. However, with a growth of hospitality organizations, a more broadly based approach to the appointment and development of leaders were needed. According to Walker, “the real key to leadership involves developing appropriate personality characteristics and the talents of other members of the organization” (Mullins, 1998, p. 403).

Moreover, “Walker identifies some of the most important indicators of the appropriate temperament for leadership:

· Self-control (leaders should be above average in their ability to exercise self-control).

· Sense of value (respect the intangible, spiritual side of life).

· Drive (a strong drive is an advantage in any assignment).

· Moodiness (the manager should be optimistic, cheerful and generally capable of maintaining morale and team spirit).

· Sensitivity (the one who is sensitive to himself is sensitive and to others, so have a high potential to managerial success).

· Defence of ideas (managers should be willing and able to support and defend their own ideas).

· Self-awareness (the person needing less recognition for individual contribution is more successful for managerial success).