Among diverse cultures like traditional or individualistic, I would always prefer to work in participative as it is closely related to my personality. According to Li et al. (2018), participative leadership is one of the common types of management that allows the employee to take part in the decision-making process and share their ideas with the leaders. Nevertheless, to work in a similar organization, it is important to have such skills as communication and responsibility. I have worked in participative companies and managed to improve these skills along with creativity and quick problem-solving. Consequently, I would accept the job offer from Southwest Airlines to expand my knowledge of this type of culture in more depth.
In the participative culture, workers should receive motivation from other colleagues and stay motivated by communicating during the working time. Moreover, team meetings allow to show a good level of self-confidence and create a positive base for the individual self-development. A passion for collaborating with other people and sharing personal beliefs and thoughts drives me to choose this type of leadership and work at Southwest Airlines.
Every person can have a specific understanding of the leadership concept, as organizations prefer to build their unique strategies to unite workers and increase the performance of the business. Northouse (2021) states that leadership is the ability to keep followers, motivate them, and positively impact their individual development. I agree with this definition as I have been working with the managers who were able to support their workers and provide them with training when needed. Moreover, leaders in the participative culture understand how to avoid routines and make every day more interesting, avoiding boring tasks that decrease the efficiency of the general work. Leadership is also an understanding of every worker’s positive and negative sides and the ability to divide the work into parties to make sure that vision can become a reality.
Participative leadership requires many functions that both workers and managers should follow. For instance, one of the crucial aspects of the culture is mobilization, as every department of the company should be connected and work together to create stability in the working process. Airline companies take a massive responsibility, and they need to ensure customers that they receive all possible benefits in case of an unusual situation and have a safe flight. Furthermore, policymaking is a crucial step for every type of leadership, which states that employees and leaders should value the regulations and know their responsibilities to avoid conflicts. By splitting tasks and presenting results during joint meetings, the organization’s performance can increase. This aspect is related to the chosen airline company, as people of different professions work together to achieve a common goal. For instance, while marketing managers work hard to promote the organization, flight attendants communicate with passengers and receive feedback, which can then be transferred to the management department. Even though these parties have different responsibilities, their communication may make the performance more sufficient.
It is also important to state that participative culture allows workers to identify problems quicker and apply relevant solutions. Some issues might be visible, and others can be invisible, and depending on the experience, workers may face the issue earlier to prevent the development of more severe stages. For instance, professional flight attendants can notice conflicting passengers earlier than trainees, and by communicating, the young specialist can increase their expert knowledge. This aspect shows the importance of role models in participative leadership, as managers can share their skills and provide new workers with the challenges that develop their abilities to work in a specific position. The feedback can show the leader if the management process brings positive results or if some regulations should be changed.
As a young specialist, I have learned that cooperation is one crucial aspect that makes leadership efficient in a participative culture. By applying for the management position in the airline company, I would use such skills as building internal professional relationships to share experiences and receive knowledge from other colleagues. Moreover, I can apply the knowledge in understanding the guidance and responsibilities related to my job description and avoid extra work that is included in my tasks. I believe that communication in this position is one of the most important aspects, and by increasing my skills in this sphere, I might be able to succeed in this position at Southwest Airlines.
In conclusion, participative culture is one of the common types of leadership that fits my personality and professional skills. I prefer talking to people and expand knowledge in different areas to become more competitive among other workers. Moreover, I am not afraid to speak out and suggest new ideas that might be helpful for the organization. Due to the fact that participative leadership does not set barriers between managers and employees, I see potential individual growth in the daily cooperation with other experts. The development of leadership regulations states individual’s responsibilities but does not restrict cooperation to dive into the profession more.
References
Li, G., Liu, H., and Luo, Y. (2018). Directive versus participative leadership: Dispositional antecedents and team consequences. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91(3), 645-664.
Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice. SAGE Publications.