TRUST requires a combination of both character and competence! Leadership by example with values and selflessness is the foundation on which Christianity is built. My aim therefore is to demonstrate that Christian values and beliefs should be part of today's leadership development.

Using profit related pay to increase employee motivation and productivity

“Intrinsic” (Vecchio 2006: 92) rewards such as job satisfaction and “extrinsic” (ibid) or external rewards such as financial benefits are just two of the factors which motivate people. It motivates individuals, it motivates groups and it motivates whole organisations to get up each weekday morning to go to work. If these motivational factors did not exist, then there would not be a reason to do so. With this view or “perception” (Vecchio 2006) in mind, organisations are not only reinventing old methods but also thinking up new ways of motivating its work force.

Industry

Does high cohesiveness in a group lead to higher productivity?

Vecchio (2006: 212) defines a group as “two or more people who interact with each other, share certain common beliefs, and view themselves as being members of a group”. The term cohesiveness is the need and desire of individuals to “remain in the group” (p. 225). Oxform Brookes University (2006) defines cohesiveness as a measure of the “attraction of the group to its members” and “the resistance to leaving it” (ibid). There are two types of groups, formal and informal. Formal groups are those commonly found in organisations or professional sports teams consisting of an official leader. Informal groups are those that form out of friendship or chance meetings and seldom have leaders (Fraizer 2006).

Genderlect Styles - does it really matter how men and women communicate?

Deborah Tannen, a leading linguistics professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, USA has studied and defined the communication styles and barriers between genders. Tannen (1990, 1992) describes communication between men and women as “cross-cultural communication”. One may ask the question, what is linguistics and how does genderlect fit into the equation? As Tannen explains, “linguistics is the academic discipline devoted to understanding how language works” (Tannen, 1990).

Are leaders born or made?

There have been various leadership theories including one named the "Great Man Theory" by Stogdill (1948) as cited by Hughes et al (2006). The theory as summarised by ChangingMinds.org (2007) suggested that "leaders are born, not made" (ChangingMinds.org 2007, Cawthon 1996: 1). Furthermore, it suggests that "leaders will arise when there is a great need". ChangingMinds.org (2007) goes on to say that because gender was not an issue when discussing leadership, the "Great Man Theory" may have made a lot of sense during this period. One would suggest that due to such a male dominant attitude, other alternative views could not have been allowed to be evaluated. During the 1900's many researchers suggested that leaders and followers had different traits (Hughes et al 2006: 158).

Management v.s Leadership - is there really a difference?

Is there a difference between leadership and management? If so, how are they different? If not, how are they the same? Is this difference important or is the drawing of such lines just a waste of everyone’s time? Do you have more leaders or more managers in your organisation?

Managing People - Organisational Behaviour

In every organisation, there are always issues that management will have to deal with on a day to day basis. How one deals with these issues is dependant on the character and the management style of that individual (Silbiger 2005:130). Understanding people’s thought processes, behaviour and motivations can help us address these issues effectively.

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