Strategic Leadership in IT Project Management

Leadership is the ability to get desirable actions willingly done by others (Bush, 2003). Leadership can also be defined as the ability to influence others to behave in a particular way through ones’ individual human quality. The position of project leader best suits the qualifications and personal leadership skills of the involved leader. The company is currently involved in introducing Information Technology system to the organization. The leader will be involved in coordinating and managing the major Information Technology project on behalf of the company.

This project will involve the introduction of new payroll systems and new accounting software and that is QuickBooks and Sage. The leader will have a good plan for successful implementation of the project. The leader will also work directly with the staff from all departments to ensure successful implementation of the project. The leader has the following qualities: • The leader is able to listen to others and handle opinions that are contrary to his opinion and take in as much as he can • Decisiveness, after listening to the opinions of others is able to make the final decision

• Has deep understanding of IT environment therefore easier for implementing the project • Consistency and integrity to gain confidence from others The leader has good communication skills and has the ability to problem solving.

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Is also self motivated and organized and has good Information Technology skills. The leader has a Degree in Information Technology and Certified Public Accountant Part (III). Democratic leadership style This leadership style is also called participative style as it encourages employees to take part in decision making (Gill, 2006).

The leader informs the employees about everything that affect their job. The leader coaches the employees but has the final decision after consulting with the employees. He collects information from the employees to be able to know their needs. They also share in problem solving duty by allowing the employees to contribute. Strengths of democratic leadership style When employees are involved in decision making they become more committed and this leads to problem solving in the organization.

Most staff appreciates the trust they receive and they are able to respond to teamwork, group spirit, and high confidence. Democratic leadership can also lead to high quality and high quantity job. This style helps the leader to build up a plan that will help the employees assess their performance. The leader is also able to provide opportunities for personal growth and job fulfillment. The style helps the leader to share in decision making with the employees and also problem solving. Democratic style helps to encourage group building and contribution.

This means that the employees are able to set their goals and work hard toward achieving the goals. Weakness of democratic style of leadership Democratic style can only be used when there is enough time to consult the employees. In organization where decisions need to be made urgently democratic leadership style cannot be applied. This is because the employees will take time to give their opinion. When organization need to make important decision and employees are not cooperative then the organization cannot afford to use the democratic leadership style.

When employees are not ready to cooperate with leader then democratic leadership style cannot be used. Comparing theories of leadership Most of the theories have concentrated on leaders’ characteristics than concentrating on the traits of the followers. Like the trait approach, it emphasizes leaders’ traits such as personality, motive, values and skills. This approach is in the view that leaders are born with qualities of leadership. These theories focus on the research that identifies the character, skills and behaviors that contributes to the effectiveness of the leader.

The contingency theories also stresses on the character of the leader more than the character of the followers. Other theories like the contingent theory also focus on specific variable present in the environment that determines the kind of leadership to be applied at that particular time. Different environment will dictate different leadership styles. There are some theories that describe an aspect of leadership that applies to different situation. Only few theories emphasize the character of the followers.

The empowerment theory shows the ability of the leader to influence the decision of the leader and role and relationship of the followers with the leader. Some theories only concentrate on the relationship between the leader and the followers. Other theories emphasize that people can be trained to be leaders and that people need not to be born with leadership traits.

References Bush, T. (2003). Theories of Educational Leadership and Management. North America: Sage p. 50 Gill, R (2006) Theory and Practice of Leadership. North America: Sage p. 38