We Have Numbers Of Free Samples

Introduction

A leadership plan is aimed at analysing the current leadership style of an individual based on certain tests and techniques which are available both offline and online. Then this leadership style would be compared with the style needed in the current job profile that the person is having. In order to fill the gap and eliminate the deviation that individual needs to develop an action plan which would bring him closer to the leadership style which is expected from him to be adopted (Ardichvili & Manderscheid, 2008). This entire scenario has been discusses in the report through various headings and a future plan of action has been developed.  

The Current Leadership Style

The first step in developing a future Leadership Plan is to first critically evaluate the current leadership approach of an individual. This can be done for people at any level as leadership qualities can be present in anyone even students. These can be achieved through various psychometric and personality tests available both online and offline. The various aspects covered in these tests are personality traits, social intelligence, communication style, decision making approach, etc (Gardner & Laskin, 2011).

The leadership tests used for the purpose of this analysis is MBTI which is Myers Briggs Type Indicator which judges an individual on four categories of personality platforms. Along with this another test called DISC profile was undertaken which analyses an individual on dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance traits. The third tests used were John Maxwell leadership assessment which focuses on levels of leadership which can be evaluated through position, permission, production, people development and pinnacle (Avolio, 2010).

Through these tests I have to know that my style of leadership is participative where I involve myself with my team to a large extent and take the member along with me for every decision that needs to be taken. This style involves participation at every level and thus leads to a more cohesive and productive group (Black & Earnest, 2009). This kind of leadership is very suitable for the current scenario where every employee needs respect and appreciation so that he can be motivated to perform in a group.

The participative style of leadership has certain skills of the leader which helps him in delivering better along with his team. The first and most important skill is the ability to collaborate and take everyone along in the teamwork (Bolden, 2005). Through this method he showcases the trust that he has in his team members and helps them to believe in themselves

For a leadership position in the marketing field the second important skill is the technical skills as the leader has to be knowledgeable about the product or service that he is responsible for selling. Through detailed technical and product specific knowledge he can provide good training to his team also who can further perform well in the market (Dalakoura, 2010).

Lastly the third skill which the leader in a marketing profile should have is the negotiation skills as they have to deal with various kinds of customers while selling and marketing their products and have to sell hard to bring in sales. Hence negotiation skills would help in promoting and convincing the customer on the purchase of the product and also help him handle any objections that may be there (Day & Harrison, 2007).

Leadership Role of a Marketing Manager

The leadership course taken during the study would be very beneficial in taking up the role of marketing manager in an organization. As the marketing manager of an organization the various responsibilities would include developing the marketing strategy, promotional plan, marketing mix, developing sales team, etc. This kind of profile involves both marketing related tactical and strategic roles linked to developing the marketing plan for the organization so that a boost in sales can be brought for the firm (Bolden & Gosling, 2006).

As a marketing manager the most important leadership style would be transaction based leadership as marketing and sales are very task and transaction based jobs where each employee is required to put all the efforts towards achievement of the targets and reach the goals. For this the leader needs to clearly develop individual and team based targets to meet the company based marketing goals. Then the focus has to be achievement of these goals through the work done in each month under the able guidance of the leader. But the leader should be able to judge the potential and capability of each member so that targets which are compatible with his potential can be allocated. This would help in achieving the results and complete the transactions as per the leader’s guidance (Wheatley, 2010).

I would like to benchmark myself against the National marketing manager at Hubbards Foods which is a very successful cereal and ready to eat Food Company in New Zealand. Daniel O’Brien holds the position of National Marketing and Sales manager at the company and has contributed immensely in the growth of the company. His global experience in various FMCG industries around the world has helped him attain a leadership position in the company. Upon comparing my leadership style of being a participative leader does not match with his style which is very task and transaction based as is desired in a marketing profile. I have always focused on participation and people orientation which finally would result in the targets being met. But sometimes over people concern let to problem of free riding by some employees who would not perform due to their relation with me. But on the other had the transaction based style adopted by Mr. Brien has been very successful for the company and it has reached third biggest company in cereals and foods after Sanatorium and Kellogg’s in the country (Hubbards, 2016).

Both leadership styles are completely opposite to each other and I can adopt and imbibe the style and skills that are present in Mr. Brien as it has shown to be successful for any corporation like it did for Hubbards Foods in New Zealand.

Style and Skills Required for Marketing Manager

The above comparison clearly lies down that both the leadership styles are appropriate for a marketing profile but one is more task oriented and the other includes both task and people’s participation. Under the participative leadership style the marketing manager would involve all members in the team to determine both the strategic and tactical decisions of the team. This would help them to achieve the goals. On the other hand a transaction based leader would focus on the task and target in hand which should be achieved through the efforts f the team members (Huang et al, 2010).

Similarly the skills required for undertaking the marketing job better would also have to be developed so that the development of the leader can happen in the right direction. As a participative leader the most important skills are communication and collaborative skills which I have having with me but I need to develop upon technical skills which would help me develop very clear targets and objectives based on the technical knowledge of the products. As a marketing manager I need to develop informational skills so that the objectives can be clearly disseminated to the team members to help them to deliver accordingly. But as I need to develop into a more transactional leader to remain more focussed on results and reduce or curtail the people concern (Somech, 2005).

It is important to imbibe these skills at the duties and responsibilities of a marketing manager are very demanding and have to be fulfilled in order to meet very specific and time based targets in the organization. A marketing manager needs to create a balance of task orientation along with people focus so that the team can remain motivated to achieve the targets which may be very demanding. It requires very deep analytical and critical thinking skills also as consumer behaviour needs to be understood along with development of marketing strategies has to happen which requires informational assimilation skills and business skills also (Barbuto, 2005).

The marketing manager needs to combine his skills of marketing into the overall corporate strategy and vision of the company and hence requires all the above skills to be inculcated. Hence the technical skills, informational skills, business and analytical skills have to be developed in the right direction in order for the marketing manager to develop his overall team (Epitropaki & Martin, 2005)

Leadership Action Plan

To be a successful in the marketing manager profile very clear action plan needs to be developed which would help in imbibing the required leadership style and skills:

• In the role of marketing manager and learn the right style of transactional based leader at 6 months diploma program can be undertaken which would help in learning the finer aspects of taking up this profile. This would provide the basic theoretical exposure to be able to take up the role. Along with this a corporate exposure of how marketing job should be undertaken should be undertaken in order to provide the practical knowledge associated with this profile.
• The objective and rationale of this suggested strategy is that people have the tendency to learn new things based on either some conceptual knowledge or by practically undertaking it so that both the theoretical and practical aspect of the work can be learnt (Osteen et al, 2006).
• Every activity needs to be time based so that the results can be measured and the objectives can be set right. In order to perform well in the marketing manager profile a 6 month duration course in understanding the conceptual framework and 6 months practical exposure in a job of marketing manager would be very effective in imbibing the right style and skills.
• Over time when I would perform as a marketing manager the success that my team would achieve in developing the most appropriate marketing strategy and how the brand is built in the market would help in evaluating how I have performed in the profile (Quatro et al, 2007).
• The resources that would be required are first the fees for the course in marketing which needs to be undertaken. This would cost around NZ $ 75000 for a six months course from a reputed university or college in New Zealand. The other resource would be provided by the company in which I would be working as they will provide a marketing budget where I would need to allocate to various components of the marketing plan (Solansky, 2010).

Conclusion

All kind of leadership can be learnt through an analysis of first what currently a person is and what he wishes to become. An analysis of the current and targeted profile would be helpful in knowing the right kind of leadership that would be needed for a particular profile.

This can be achieved through an action plan which will specify how I should move ahead towards acquiring the desired traits of a leader in a marketing position.

[Download not found]

Download