HOTO7016 Mentoring and Leadership Development Assignment Sample
Introduction
Leadership is an art to motivate people and dealing with various challenges within a sector or field (Northouse, 2014). This is a key personality trait that can be used to tackle any complex situation. It is directly linked to the performances and attainment of objectives or goals.
The present essay is concerned with the plastic waste management concept in Kerala and how this challenge can be dealt with effectiveness and leadership. Leadership theories and styles have been explained in the essay that can address the contemporary challenge of plastic waste within the cited state of India.
Kerala tourism sector
The tourism sector is one of the fastest developing industries of the world and a medium of employment generation for many of the nations. This is a remarkable social and economic phenomenon. Tourism is a movement of people from one place to another with a purpose to stay for a short period or for vacation. Within the country, the most famous and developing tourism state is Kerala (Guzmán et.al. 2020).
Kerala is a state situated in the southwest and one of the most popular destinations of the world. It is very well renowned for its backwaters, culture, tradition, and eco-tourism activities. The major attractions of the beautiful state are beaches, backwaters, hill stations, wildlife, lighthouses, and waterfalls.
Plastic wastage is a global concern and needs to be addressed as soon as possible, otherwise, this will take a huge form and difficult to control. As a material, plastic is not an issue but its management is a big challenge that the whole world is facing.
It is impacting adversely on the environment and especially marine life. Plastic is a material that is using in the packaging of various equipment including aeronautics, medical and engineering equipment. As per the plastic waste management rules, 2016, it is stated that urban local bodies are required to ban plastic bags that are 50 microns thick (Iordanoglou, 2018). Also, the use of recycled plastic is not allowed for food packing and other related products that can be harmful to the health of an individual.
Figure 1: Plastic waste
Source: (Shrivastav and Santhosh, 2019)
Plastic pollution is a concern on a global platform specifically in the tourism sector. However, the tourism sector has multiple benefits in economic aspects such as it generates various employment opportunities, earns foreign exchange, leads to balanced regional development, facilitating the development of infrastructural facilities, etc.
Kerala state is a tourism paradise and this heaven is facing the biggest environmental concern i.e. plastic waste. Although Kerala tourism sector is facing a variety of challenges like:
- Horrible road journey
- Lack of basis amenities
- Accredited guide services
- Lack of cleanliness and hygiene
- Undeveloped hill stations
- Overcharging for taxis and autos, etc.
However, out of all of these, the major challenge that the state is going through is managing plastic waste which is affecting the beauty and environment of the tourist sites.
Kerala travel mart 2012, considered waste management as a serious issue and a resolution has been passing to take various steps to make it clean and beautiful (Manuja, 2020). As per the mart, it was said that the local bodies will be responsible for the waste tackling. Kerala is a responsible state and tourism sector taking several steps to manage plastic waste (Aslam, 2018).
“Responsible tourism mission” has been enforced in 2017 to spread the message of sustainability and implementing responsible tourism principles within the state. The state is focused on making Kerala an eco-friendly tourist destination.
It can be said that challenges within the hospitality, tourism, or event sector can be addressed by the application of effective leadership approaches. A leader is an individual who has the capability to influence others or any managerial body and authority.
A leader is a key person in the tourism and hospitality industry (Robertson, 2016). It is a significant function irrespective of small companies or large organizations. Leadership provides motivation, encouragement, and direction. In the cited tourism sector, where plastic waste management has become a key issue, the implication of effective leadership styles can prove beneficial. Some of the main leadership styles are:
- Autocratic style
- Democratic style
- Laissez-style style
- Affiliative style
Laissez-style leadership is an approach in which an attitude of trust and confidence is shown to the team members. Little or no guidance is provided from the mentor and employees are deemed as capable of taking important decisions. Moreover, team members are expected to solve their problems by themselves and they are provided with access to various tools and resources (Pidgeon, 2017).
On the other hand, the Affiliative style of leadership is based on the emotional aspect and promotes team building and a harmonious environment as the workplace. The key advantages of this approach are that it creates an effective team, enhances the morale of team members, builds employee trust, provides guidance during the crisis, etc.
Considering democratic/participative leadership style, this is a technique of allowing everyone in the decision-making process. It is a collaborative approach where everyone is treated equally and with mutual respect (Johansen and Voto, 2014).
This strategy of leadership can be proved effective for the Kerala tourism sector to reduce the challenges of plastic waste management by inviting suggestions of the people and encouraging them to focus on their responsibilities towards nature and protecting the environment.
Encouraging and inspiring are the two main capabilities of a leader and these can be proved advantageous for the tourism sector of Kerala. The challenges of managing and reducing plastic waste are increasing every day. Leaders create a vision to address the problem.
For instance, in order to address the issue, leaders concentrate on the entire value chain, identification of strategic intervention points, applying a lifecycle thinking approach, etc.
The value chain approach in this context is useful in knowing the hotspot, generating holistic solutions, coordination, prioritizing actions, and thus reaching goals. Democratic leadership style enhances productivity and work efficiency (Owen, 2017).
It encourages the engagement of people and their inputs which results in positive outcomes and attainment of goals. This leadership approach is likely to approach every individual and taking their suggestion so that they can feel they are an important part of the tourism sector and their contribution is highly appreciated.
Moreover, it will help in getting diverse ideas as consultation has been done by each and every one who is required to deal with this global concern of waste management. This issue is hampering the attractions of the tourism sector of the state of Kerala. The cited industry can take this leadership theory to further emphasize innovation and creativity.
Mutual respect and healthy relationship generated positive and optimistic behaviour (Daft, 2014). Hence, with this process of shared goals achievements, fresh ideas can be generated that can deal with this challenge. Further, working collaboratively as a team with an aim to reduce waste or plastic waste and making Kerala an eco-friendly state is possible.
Plastic pollution in this sector has become now uncontrollable. Lack of unawareness of people of the state and the tourists are the main reason that it is increasing. With the effective implementation of democratic leadership, it has been assessed that this problem can be tackled in an effective way. Leaders are capable to enhance awareness about saving the environment and developing strategies that can address this challenge. Plastic is a harmful substance due to its properties.
Another challenge in managing plastic waste is its endless usage (Fernandez et.al. 2015). Even after so much information and guidelines regarding plastic usage, people are using it effortlessly and no one is thinking even once about the damage that it is causing to nature. Lack of waste collection system is the biggest cause of pollution and challenge in its management.
Some other issue in managing the waste is approximately 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been turned into waste and out of that 9% only is recycled and 12 have been incinerated. The remaining portion has been going into the oceans, rivers, and landfills. It then takes hundreds of years to degrade the same (Farrell, 2014). Negligence and unawareness of the harmful effects of waste is the main cause of this problem.
In a 2014 survey, it is found that about 5 trillion plastic pieces are floating in the world ocean and contributes to economic damage to eco system (Amadeo, 2020). With the cited issue, the need of managing this waste has been identified within the hospitality and tourism industry. Tourist attraction places like Kerala must be saved from these effects and needs to be managed by the sector. Thus considering a democratic leadership approach to deal with this is a great idea and has numerous advantages.
This can be demonstrated by that it will encourage participation among the various key persons of the tourism industry of Kerala and other populations. Other than this, this approach will bring more creative and innovative ideas to the table, invites a high level of commitment, build long-term relationships, and develop a strong and clear vision (DuBrin, 2015). In the tourism industry of the cited state, this theory can be applied to managing plastic waste and develop an eco-friendly tourist destination.
Democratic leadership style connects people to their work and results in happiness and productivity. Improvements will be possible in the described issue with the process of people engagement. It is beneficial not only for nature and the environment but for the economy too, as this will enhance the interest of tourists to visit Kerala and give a boost to the overall economy by generating more employment opportunities.
Apart from this leadership style, another style that can be used to address this challenge is the autocratic leadership style, which is different from the democratic style (Tucker and Lam, 2014).
This is an approach where individual control is with the leader and other group members are bound to follow the instructions and guidelines. This can be also termed as authoritarian leadership theory. It can be applied within the tourism sector of the region to deal with the contemporary challenge of plastic waste management.
This is a style in which input is not needed or little input is needed from a group of people. Further, the leader is the one who is allowed to make decisions, unlike the democratic style where everyone is able to share their viewpoints and ideas regarding any specific issue.
This is a kind of dictatorship in which methods and processes are just described to the group members and no modification is allowed to do by them and the only leader has this right. Such characteristics of this leadership theory make the people feel like they are not valuable and trustworthy (ELLIS, 2016).
Democratic leadership style is completely different from this one as in that approach team members’ opinions are welcomed and they have the right to generate ideas and opinions. However, the autocratic style is somewhat highly structured and has rigid policies and procedures. It does not appreciate out of box thinking and creativity.
Concerning the benefits of this theory for the tourism sector to address the selected challenge, it can be said that with the implication of this approach decisions can be taken immediately as there is no need to ask for viewpoints and opportunities can be grabbed instantly without wasting any further time.
In the recent environment, this theory is not that much acceptable by various industries. Further, with this, a clear chain of command can be ensured and everyone is aware of their roles and responsibilities and to whom report.
These styles do not let create any confusion and misunderstandings among the team and hamper the work operations. For instance, the tourism sector can develop a policy or strategy regarding waste management in Kerala and everyone relating to this is bound to adhere to the pre-determined and stated guideline (Volz-Peacock et.al. 2016).
There are no ifs and buts are considered in this type of framework and everyone is liable and accountable for their task.
In comparison with democratic style leadership, this is applicable in the cases where strong pressure is needed, rules are very crucial and to be followed by everyone, etc.
With the application of autocratic approach waste or plastic waste can be further managed by focusing on recycling, bans, waste to energy incinerators, etc. It is the responsibility of tourists to adhere to the guidelines of waste management by the tourism department. For instance, they can minimise single-use plastic usage and taking care of nature.
The tourism sector can encourage the clients to bring their own refillable bottled instead of using plastic bottles on the trip to Kerala (Voronina et.al. 2018). In case, if the client has not brought their bottle, the company can offer them a bottle as everyone is responsible for the ground activities and further this bottle can be reused for the next group.
Besides, it is the responsibility of the tourism sector to make tourists aware of the issue of single-use plastic. Their support and commitment can be achieved by using a democratic leadership style within the industry (Nye, 2017). Working together with the local awareness organizations is also a great idea to deal with this challenging situation.
Within Kerala, various trusts and programs are developed where the focus is done on enhancing the awareness about nature and sustainability and the ways that it can be protected by minimising the usage of plastic and making the state free from plastic pollution.
Beach clean-ups are in the trend and this is because of the awareness of some people who have started this work. Various individuals are realising the importance of this issue and taking a step ahead to minimise plastic use (Rossiter, 2014). This activity can be encouraged by the tourism sector to work together for a better and clean environment.
Figure 2: An image of beach clean ups
Source: (Jong, 2019)
In a nutshell, several ways to reduce the plastic waste accommodation are avoiding the use of single-use plastics like straws, taking a shopping bag and avoiding plastic bag for that, use of non-packaged products, more use of steel containers, etc.
The challenges are millions in plastic waste management but the biggest reason is the unawareness of individuals which is increasing.
The tourism sector of the cited state i.e. Kerala can take beneficial steps to deal with this contemporary challenge and this is possible by adopting leadership styles such as democratic and autocratic theory.
Both the approaches are different from each other but can be implied in the tourism industry (Johnson and Hackman, 2018).
Democratic leadership style is a practice where everyone is free to share their suggestions and views and on the contrary, authoritative leadership style is something different where people are required to follow the rules and regulations made by the authority. No suggestions and opinions are welcomed from the team and group members.
Conclusion
Hence, from the complete analysis, it can be summarized that there are various reasons for plastic waste and challenges in managing that waste. This issue is hampering the beauty of one of the leading travel destinations i.e.
Kerala and thus the tourism sector is required to take necessary action to prevent the environment and deal with this contemporary challenge. This can be done by applying leadership styles and theories i.e. democratic and autocratic leadership style.
References
Books and articles
Aslam, M., 2018. Current trends and issues affecting academic libraries and leadership skills. Library Management.
Daft, R.L., 2014. The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.
DuBrin, A.J., 2015. Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills. Cengage Learning.
ELLIS, P., 2016. Leadership skills: the ethically active manager. Wounds UK, 12(1).
Farrell, M., 2014. Leadership reflections: Leadership development through service. Journal of Library Administration, 54(4), pp.308-317.
Fernandez, C.S., Noble, C.C., Jensen, E. and Steffen, D., 2015. Moving the needle: A retrospective pre-and post-analysis of improving perceived abilities across 20 leadership skills. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 19(2), pp.343-352.
Guzmán, V.E., Muschard, B., Gerolamo, M., Kohl, H. and Rozenfeld, H., 2020. Characteristics and Skills of Leadership in the Context of Industry 4.0. Procedia Manufacturing, 43, pp.543-550.
Iordanoglou, D., 2018. Future Trends in Leadership Development Practices and the Crucial Leadership Skills. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 15(2).
Johansen, B. and Voto, A., 2014. Leadership skills to thrive in the future. People and Strategy, 36(4), p.4.
Johnson, C.E. and Hackman, M.Z., 2018. Leadership: A communication perspective. Waveland Press.
Northouse, P.G., 2014. Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Sage.
Nye, L.L., 2017. Millennials and leadership: Beliefs and perceptions of leadership skills (Doctoral dissertation, The University of the Rockies).
Owen, J., 2017. The leadership skills handbook: 90 essential skills you need to be a leader. Kogan Page Publishers.
Pidgeon, K., 2017. The keys for success: Leadership core competencies. Journal of Trauma Nursing| JTN, 24(6), pp.338-341.
Robertson, J., 2016. Coaching leadership: Building educational leadership capacity through partnership. New Zealand Council for Educational Research. PO Box 3237, Wellington 6140 New Zealand.
Rossiter, D.E., 2014. Leadership skills. Infobase Publishing.
Tucker, E. and Lam, S., 2014. Dynamic leadership–a leadership shortage solution. Strategic HR Review.
Volz-Peacock, M., Carson, B. and Marquardt, M., 2016. Action learning and leadership development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 18(3), pp.318-333.
Voronina, E.V., Kungurova, I.M. and Slizkova, E.V., 2018. Leadership skills as a key to personal effectiveness. In V Рождественские чтения (pp. 94-96).
Online
Amadeo, K., 2020. Plastic Pollution’s Effect on the Economy and Environment. [Online]. Accessed through: https://www.thebalance.com/plastic-pollution-s-effect-on-the-economy-and-environment-5070245 Accessed on: 16th April, 2021.
Jong, A., D., 2019. 10 ways to reduce plastic in your tourism supply chain. [Online]. Accessed through: https://fairsayari.com/blog/10-ways-to-reduce-plastic-in-your-tourism-supply-chain. Accessed on: 16th April, 2021.
Manuja, S., 2020. Manage plastic waste effectively. [Online]. Accessed through: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/manage-plastic-waste-effectively/article32864516.ece. Accessed on: 16th April, 2021.
Shrivastav, R., and Santhosh, S., 2019. Plastic waste management: What can India learn from other countries. [Online]. Accessed through: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/waste/plastic-waste-management-what-can-india-learn-from-other-countries-67048 Accessed on: 16th April, 2021.
Know more about UniqueSubmission’s other writing services:
