Question 1
Power indicates the capability of influencing others (Kirst-Ashman and Hull). In the organization, there are three main sources of power, which are legitimate, reward, and coercive power (Sims). The leader in my organization has exercised legitimate and the reward power in the most effective manner. The legitimate power indicates the formal authority that is granted by the organization and by the job description. The leader in my organization also exercised the reward power by giving an increase in the salary based on the performance. But, the leader of my organization has never used the coercive power. The leader has effectively handled the power. The effectiveness can be described in terms of the best power source that is used for achieving success in the organization (Kouzes and Posner). The leader in my organization has also used the preeminent sources so that the employees can be handled in the most effective manner, and progress of the organization can be ensured. My organization’s leader has made good decision in the authority area, he has used sanctions, and he has used rewards adequately, and considers the good performance of employees.
Question 2
a. In today’s turbulent economic and business environment, the leaders are expected to show the flexibility, dealt with the uncertainty, unanticipated events, emergency and contingency situations, diversity, and changing business environment. They are expected for fostering the trust and engaging the minds as well as hearts of employees. The leaders in the Second City theatre effectively displayed these traits. They have responded to the changes and focused on developing the skills in order to handle the changed situation successfully. This can be analyzed from the fact that the executive producer, and the owner named Andrew Alexander has started the television series , and it was started in order to cope with the new trends of the sketch comedy that was dominant in television industry at the time.
b. There are many challenges to the leadership; specifically they are in terms of the technology, globalization, and the diversity. The globalization in today’s challenging business is demanding management of the diversity and adoption of the latest technology in order to facilitate the customers with the exceptional products. The leaders are required to create value from the diversity, and make diversity as an essential part of the organization. They should use the diversity in order to identify, advance, and develop the talent. They should properly understand the consequences associated with diversity. They should focus on the use of technology in order to ensure innovation. Technology is also required in order to ensure internal as well as external communication. The leaders at Second City Theatre have successfully met the challenges of leadership particularly in areas of technology, globalization, and diversity. For example, the company has introduced Second City Training Centre that has focused on improving the skills for meeting the challenges of globalization. The focus on technology of company can be analyzed from the fact that it formed a Corporate Communication Division that emphasized on providing the information about branding, marketing, and ensure internal communication for achieving the results. The company has formed a learning and experimentation environment for employees in order to discourage diversity.
c. The leadership in my organization is different from that in Second City theatre in a way that in my organization there is no focus on the training of the employees as a result of which employees fail to develop the necessary skills, and they also show reluctant behavior to adopt the change. As a result of which, ,my organization failed to achieve the expected growth.
Work Cited
Ashman, Karen Kay, and Grafton H. Hull. Generalist Practice with Organizations and Communities. 2nd ed. Australia: Belmont, CA :, 2001.
Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations. 5th ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2012.
Sims, Ronald R. Managing Organizational Behavior. Westport: Quorum, 2002.
