Organizing; the functional leader must
ensure that the group is properly orga-
nized. Not only should each member
have a clear understanding of what is
expected of them, but the group itself
should be properly structured to facili-
tate their actions.
Motivation; a functional leader must
ensure that every individual in the
group feels sufficiently appreciated for
their efforts and actions. In the absence
of motivation or clear communication
about how their actions contribute
to the group’s success, there’s a high
chance that members might feel de-
jected and leave the group.
Controlling; leadership involves a great
deal of controlling exactly what hap-
pens in the team. Resources are usually
limited in any situation and the leader
must control what happens by being
efficient about getting the maximum
results from the available resources.
Living by example; people tend to ob-
serve their leaders and emulate their
behaviours. Functional leaders set an
example by doing the things that they
want their followers to do.
Guidance; team members want to
know how they are doing, and whether
they need to change anything. They
need feedback about their jobs and
how they can improve. One of the im-
portant tasks of a functional leader is
to provide appropriate guidance to all
team members.
The functional style assumes that lead-
ership is defined by the behaviour of
the leader and its corresponding effect
on the group. Leadership is something
that any individual provides to a group
to meet certain needs.
Midwestern Leadership Perspective:
Demonstration of leadership is high
in Midwestern Oil and Gas. Effective
leadership behaviours as enumerated
above is readily displayed by top man-
agement at Midwestern. These include
the following;
Prioritizing – every 5 years the compa-
ny defines its strategic objectives, this
is cascaded to different organizational
leaders and the achievement of the
objectives is tracked on different dash-
boards and platforms.
Motivation - intrinsic job design is
guaranteed because HR makes sure
that every staff is gainfully occupied
and that they are equipped with the
skills to do their jobs as one of our key
tools for staff motivation, staff good
performance is also rewarded after
Performance Appraisals either by sal-
ary increase or a bonus. In addition, we
also have the Managing Director’s Joint
Venture Awards which goes further to
identify and reward exceptional staff.
Controlling outcomes - management
holds a Quarterly Performance Review
(QPR) to track and guide organizational
objectives, that way we manage the
achievement of the company’s goals.
Living by example - the leadership of
MWOG exercise high levels of account-
ability by championing processes and
policies adherence as well as adher-
ence to industry regulations and na-
tional legislation.
Guidance - although we do not yet
have a formal mentorship program,
MWOG leaders have been schooled on
leadership through the Ken Blanchard
Situational Leadership II training and as
such provide coaching and encourage
feedback from team members
One of the key element of gaining staff
confidence has been the open com-
munication demonstrated during town
hall meetings where issues and compa-
ny activities are openly discussed, this
open discussion forum has reduced
hearsay which can undermine effec-
tive leadership. My submission is that
MWOG management should continue
to display quality leadership as it has
done overtime, in order to achieve the
vision of becoming a leading indepen-
dent E & P company with a diversified
portfolio of hydrocarbon assets.
By Marcus Amuche
VOLUME
eryone has to know what they’re sup-
posed to do, and the leader is respon-
sible to ensure clear understanding of
each individual’s desired behaviours.
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