- “Better leadership is too often proposed as a panacea for organizational problems which have other origins.” Critically argue for or against this proposition with examples.
Introduction
One of the major challenges of the new and global business environment is the management of people as globalization needs heightened interaction among people from diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures than ever before (Ely, Robin, & Thomas, 2001). Global companies and dynamic organizations need human capital, knowledge and technology development to further enhance their innovation in order to compete with global competitors. The current market systems need leaders to totally comprehend the competencies required to become successful is also becoming very significant to the dynamic changes and innovations (Kotter, 2001).
Another concern in management is that global mobility intensively moves professionals and skilled/unskilled workers from one country or region to another. Companies now intend to have a heterogeneous workforce composed people from different races and genders. Studies show that this help the companies attain better results in their organizational and financial performances (Collins, 2001). However, establishing a diverse workforce is a long journey. Initiatives in diversity management are long-term and strategic in intention. The increased number of minorities in a workplace should be led by very good leaders. They try their best to recruit, dynamically enhance, promote, and bank on the varied skills and orientations of minority employees. Inherently, these changes also require basic organizational change, which leaders will then again overcome and see through.
This paper asserts that the excellent leadership is the solution for organizational problems stemming out of various sources. Best management practices have evolved and leaders make use of great initiatives to best manage a diverse, healthy and productive workforce. The panacea might seem to be a great term to describe the way leaders move organizations. However, with fine leadership traits, skills and examples, it has been proven that leaders pave the way for the best organizational performances.
Leadership Solves It All
In Peter Drucker’s 1954 seminal work “The Practice of Management,” he defined leadership with utmost importance. He said that it cannot be created or promoted. There is just no substitute for it. It cannot be taught or learned” (Kotter, 2001). The summary of this author’s learning about leadership and defining his own leadership preferences and styles and acknowledging his leadership skills and attributes can be summed up to this: “leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” (Kotter, 2001). This is realized by special individuals who have the right mix of personality, charisma, skills, knowledge, expertise and experience.
Another common fulfillment is that leadership is the “art of influencing others to their best performance to fulfill any task, objective, or project” (Daft, 2011). Again, the focus is on the person as a leader and this is very significant for the author. In another definition, “leadership is said to be the art of influencing others to their maximum performance to accomplish any task, objective, or project.” Again, the focus is on the person as a leader and this is very important to point out.
There are many different ways of defining a leader and how they make a difference. Peter Drucker summarized it as "the most valid definition of a leader is an individual who has followers” (Kotter, 2001). In order to have followers, influence and integrity are important.
Leadership is one of the most crucial subject matter in any aspects of human affairs. This is very important because of two main reasons. First, leadership solves the problem of organizing a collective effort, which is a major element in group or organizational success (Daft, 2011). With great leaders, government, business, personal and community organizations succeed and develop. When organizations are successful, the members are happy and fulfilled. It also shows that leadership is an adaptive instrument for individual and group survival (Northouse, 2007). In essence, it is mainly concerned with creating and maintaining effective teams and this is made possible by the personality of the leader. The final point is that the leader influences the team’s performance. Thus, the ways of leaders are mainly the manner by which organizations move and this will eventually determine the successes of organizations.
In a deeper analysis, Steve Jobs has the ability to combine technical vision with an inner instinct for what normal consumers want and then he will sell it in a way that make consumers want to buy and be part of the club (Business Week Online, 2006). This is the way Jobs make a change in the organization, by bringing in his own expertise which is unparalleled by any other leader or managers in the company. This is what makes his leadership different and the outcomes prove it.
In the same way, the Chief executive Officers (CEOs) of the companies of the world are specifically challenged by the creation of multicultural, diverse, dynamic and excellent organizations. This is especially true of the U.S. companies. Top executives such as those from IBM, Apple, General Electric, etc. have expended considerable resources in order to attain diversity (Kotterman, 2006). By the end of the 1990s, most top 500 companies as identified by Fortune Magazine had already started their diversity policies (Business Week Online, 2006). Their rivals have also followed suit. They also ventured into copying what they think are effective practices in diversity management in their workplaces.
Aside from making a business organization successful, effective leaders also contribute to a lot of things. They also support the business to single handedly focus on its operations. Sharp leadership skills align the business and human resource goals and resources (Daft, 2011). These can also improve poor business performance and internal conflicts among members. It saves the country in times of danger.
Hence, the lack of leadership is infectious. Organizations move slowly without very good leaders (Daft, 2011). They stagnate and lose their directions. Big organizations can also suffer from several individuals who try to make business decisions. In a more personal level, the lack of leadership can also lead to loss of direction and purpose in life.
Indeed, leaders are usually considered as the “bringer of change” (Northouse, 2007). To develop and sustain their mandate to lead, effective leaders communicate and promote communications so as to create and maintain productive relations. This helps to build the trust that is essential to sustain performance in uncertain times (Northouse, 2007). Leaders make a difference because their role is crucial. Their major roles are to engage all the members of the organization (Northouse, 2007).
Effective leaders are greatly valued at this highly competitive business context. In a constant quest to improve organizational performance and capacities, human services, organizations now focus on leadership and how to make leaders more effective and skillful. In this light, leaders must incessantly adopt innovations and change. As Drucker explained, operating anything needs constant effort and undivided attention. There are daily crises which are met by business managers. These crises are spontaneous. Hence, it takes special effort for leaders to become innovative (Kotter, 1990). Opportunities can be found in technological changes, political/regulatory changes and socio-demographic changes and there is a constant challenge to improve performance (Kotter, 1990).
In team leadership, tasks must be properly delegated and divided according to the team members’ requirements and their competence (Daft, 2011). Leaders must commit to equality and should try to assign tasks accordingly. They must be objective with the needs of the organization especially since competition is really fierce.
Studies illustrate that the cognitive maps of the leaders – the ways they think – serve as vital limitations or compelling action for the organizations which keep them from seeing beyond what is already obvious. The leaders’ cognitive and mental orientations disabled the adoption of new changes. To illustrate, it took Polaroid to change direction for such a long time. It was almost two decades before the company shifted from film to digital technology (Jarrett, 2009). This transpired too long even when the company was popular for its innovation. Their top management believed and held to their old ideas. For instance, they believed that R&D in the existing technology was fundamental even when the digital technology was already accelerating. Thus, the entry of a new CEO broke the pervading mental spell. Then, Polaroid was able to shift in its business directions and performance (Jarrett, 2009).
Effective leaders develop a level of self-awareness and a capacity to manage their own learning and development since they know that leadership attributes can be identified, learned, applied, improved and taught to others (Daft, 2011). They can transform and be the key factor in a company’s evolution (Daft, 2011). Business owners who have leadership can transform an organization, its members, and the organizational mindset and/or culture. Their leadership styles can improve attitude and productivity within the organization (Daft, 2011).
Other scholars further contend that great leaders excel not just by their skill and talents but also because of their emotional intelligence competencies such as empathy and self-awareness (Daft, 2011). They assert that the best leaders have "resonance" or a strong inclination and ability to channel their emotions in a positive direction in order to get results. These leaders can flexibly interchange among a variety of leadership styles as the situation requires. It gives rise to another important type of leadership which is situational leadership.
Leadership styles and approaches are very contextual and leaders need to be flexible according to the needs of their organizations. The approaches to leadership are not inherent in people but it is achieved in the careful balance of the situations and how leaders will apply the most appropriate approaches in each situation. The right combination will mean the success of leaders.
Leadership styles and approaches are also by products of the environment. As Kotter (2001) furthered, “better, more effective methods of leadership are developed when implemented to a larger group of candidatescan further improve organizational productivity, profitability and responsiveness to the business climate.” Leaders also perform cross-functional coordination. They attain the best collaboration between functions. As always observed, pursuing excellence in all functions is one of the hardest tasks of all managerial challenges. This makes leadership more crucial than ever.
Conclusion
Leadership is often considered as the process which aids in directing and mobilizing people. It is often defined as the making of a vivid vision, the effective communications of that vision to others, and the resolution of conflicts between different individuals who are tasked to complete the organization’s vision (Kotter, 1990). In the current context of streamlined, flexible, multicultural, diverse, and highly competitive organizations, leadership becomes even more significant. It is adopted and enhanced in the present information society and network inspired businesses.
The global market environment has justified various roles for today’s leaders. They must integrate their leadership qualities to the dynamic and technology-driven commercial environment. The complexities demand emerging leadership qualities, beliefs and behaviors from the chief executive officers to the team leader and leaders assigned throughout the organizations. Leaders’ qualities and traits must inspire, empower, enhance, overcome, and change their environment. These make them highly demanded and considered as the one time solution for organizational challenges and problems.
Leaders are very important especially now that the global economy is a wide scale were people and businesses compete. More than ever, leadership must be the process used to reach positive goals. The leader’s attributes are vital against the organization and to the members which are under him. To be effective, a leader must challenge the status quo, to alter paradigms, develop new way of thinking and seeing, and create major changes. The influencing power of leaders is crucial in these tasks and he needs to perform various activities and strategies to complete these tasks.
In the present context of “sense-making” paradigm, it is possible to draw out a leadership model associated to the context of complexity and change which define twenty first century organizations (Daft, 2011). This model transferred the measure of effectiveness originally from the success of the organization to the impact of the leader on the team and how this impact builds more capability for the organization. Various sources stressed the leaders’ personal traits, attributes, values, and tendencies aside from their knowledge, competence and technical skills. This literature combined the leaders' socio-emotional talents and interpersonal skills. They also stressed that leaders must also develop strong communication skills. They showed that effective communication increases a leader’s managerial and organizational productivity (Daft, 2011). Scholars also acknowledged the ability of leaders, including their employees, to effectively communicate within and outside the organization to bring about organizational success (Daft, 2011).
References:
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