Situational Employeeship

How to Effectively Lead and Be Led in the 21st Century...

Until recent decades, leadership was very hierarchical. Hierarchical organizations are where people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority. In these systems, leadership and authority resembled a pyramid with all of the power at the top. The bottom portion of the pyramid is the general worker with little or no authority. However, the past decade or so has seen a flattening of the leadership and authority pyramid (although many organization remain hierarchical).

BR: 7 Habits of Highly Successful People

Book Review: 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Steven Covey

Introduction

Stephen Covey wrote this best selling book in 1989. Twenty-eight years later it holds up and is as relevant today as it has ever been. I first read Covey's book about twenty years ago and have integrated many of the principles into personal development strategies. The purpose of this book review is to extract the main principles to be applied to employee development. However, no review can ever capture all of the information in a single book. It is suggested that this book be added to your personal development library.

Good Employees Display Loyalty

Good employeeship is about creating a company culture based on responsibility, commitment, loyalty, cooperation, and development.

The previous post highlighted the importance of initiative, it was stated that initiative cannot be achieved without a high amount of responsibility and loyalty. Organizational loyalty is defined as allegiance to the company above self, protecting and defending it against external threat and promoting its good reputation (Himanshu, 2012). Loyalty is also defined as being faithful to the one you have chosen to support. 

Good Employees Take Initiative

Initiative is not waiting to be told what to do, but it is being proactive in doing what it takes, within your ability, to accomplish the mission and vision of the organization.

Employeeship is noted by factors such as participation and the balance of ownership, authority, and responsibility. It is the leader's (employer's) role to realize when to share leadership and how to follow. However, employeeship is not a democracy where everyone shares an equal part. Different work contexts and situations call for a different balance in the authority and responsibility. Employeeship is also noted by employees being encouraged and allowed to take responsibility and initiative. 

Good Employees Assume Responsibility

Moller (1994) lists responsibility as the central element of employeeship without which a person cannot display loyalty and take initiative.

The employer employee relationship at its core, is a transaction. Burns (1979) describes this kind of leadership as transactional leadership. Transactional leadership is where an employee completes assigned tasks in exchange for rewards in the form of a paycheck, bonuses, and benefits. For years, transactional leadership was the norm--"If you do this, I will give you that." Transactional leadership is no longer thought of as the best way to run an organization (although many believe that it is a pipe dream to totally eliminate the transactional aspect of management). Leadership trends today advocates the benefits of self-leadership, shared leadership, and peer leadership. The focus is moving from the leader to the follower.