- Introduction
Leadership is defined as the power of individuals to influence their followers so as to achieve a goal. The need for an effective leadership is increasingly important for organizations so as to control and lead the entire organization towards the goals and objectives effectively. Powerful leaders are successful in initiating and leading change in organizations and their role in the organization cannot be substituted. In the present case scenario, Joan Salmon needs to formulate a leadership plan so as to accommodate and decide the new leadership role of her father Garret Salmon in the organization. Garret Salmon has been a great leader for the organization and has made a significant contribution towards the growth and survival of the organization. It is a challenge for his daughter Joan Salmon to design an innovative leadership strategy so that the contributions of her father are well honored and he continues to guide the organization in its future ventures. It is a challenging situation for daughter Joan Salmon as she recognizes the short term goal oriented approach of her father Garret Salmon in running the organization and little has changed within the organization since its inception.
- Leadership
Leadership may be defined as an influence relationship that may exist between the leaders and the followers and that intends real changes and the achievement of desired goals and objectives . Leadership is also defined as the ability of an individual to influence the behavior of other individuals (followers) in order to get a task done or achieve the goal of the organization. The main ability of the leader lies in the ability to persuade or convince the followers to work towards the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives.
Some of the important elements of leadership may include the ability to influence the behavior of the followers, the intention of the leader to achieve the organizational goals and objectives, personal responsibility and commitment towards the goals and objectives, integrity to remain the same in all situations, to initiate change and have a shared purpose with the followers.
Figure 1 Components of Leadership
Various theories of leadership have been proposed in the past that have attempted to define the concept of leadership and illustrate what makes effective leaders. Some of the theories and concepts are discussed here to better understand the concept of leadership in the context of the current case scenario.
- Leadership Trait Theory
According to the theory of leadership traits, leaders are considered to be born and self-made rather than being trained and conditioned. According to this theory leaders are born with certain traits and characteristics that are common to all leaders and determine the effectiveness of their ability to lead others. Some of the most common traits of leaders include:
Integrity: Effective leaders are integrative in their approach that means their approach remains the same in all situations and does not involve changing stands in different situations.
Honesty: Good leaders are honest towards their commitment and towards their followers.
Self-confidence: Effective leaders have a high level of confidence in their approach towards the execution of strategies so as to achieve the organizational goals and objectives.
Charismatic Personality: The personality of great leaders has a unique charisma that attracts their followers towards them.
2.2 Individualized Leadership Theory
The idea of individualized leadership looks at the specific relationship that may exist between a leader and an individual member of the organization . According to this theory, each leader establishes a specific relationship with each member of the organization and the behavior of the leader with each group member essentially depends on the behavior of the sub-ordinate with the leader . It is also known as the dyadic theory as it is essentially a two way relationship between the leader and the follower. A leader is dependent on the follower to follow the instructions of the leader and exhibit his commitment towards the organizational goals and objectives and the follower is dependent on the leader to satisfy his needs and wants and also guide him on how to achieve the task at hand.
- Contingency Theory of Leadership
According to the contingency theory of leadership, the leaders need to modify their behavior according to the situations faced by them. The contingency theory of leadership is also known as the situational theory of leadership. According to this theory, the situations determine the behavior of the leaders and whether they need to adjust to the situation at hand or make changes in their current style of leadership . The leadership style may be task or relationship oriented depending on the situation in the organization. In case the situation demands urgent tasks to be completed, the leaders may adopt a task oriented approach to leadership. In situations where the employees are highly cooperative and a positive work environment exists, a relationship oriented approach to leadership may be preferred.
- Leadership role
The roles of leaders in the present organizations have evolved from a leading and directive role to that of a facilitator and a supporter.
Figure 2 Evolving Role of Leadership
Autocratic Leadership and Democratic Leadership
Autocratic leaders are those leaders that tend to exert power and control over their followers to get the tasks done . Such a style of leadership involves a one way communication from the leader to the followers and does not involve the participation of the followers in the decision making process. Such leaders direct their followers to complete certain tasks and reward them if the goals are achieved or punish them in case they fail to achieve goals. In the present case scenario, father Garret Salmon assumes the role of an autocratic leader as he does not take the input of the employees in the decision making process and always assigns tasks to others on the basis of his authority in the organization.
A democratic leader is one that delegates the responsibility to the followers, allows the participation of the followers in the decision making process and depends on the performance of the followers to complete the desired tasks and achieve the organizational goals and objectives . In the present case, daughter Joan Salmon aspires to be a democratic leader in the organization as she shall delegate the responsibilities to others, encourage employee participation in decision making and shall motivate the followers to complete tasks.
Figure 3 Leadership Styles
Leaders may adopt four main styles of leadership when they deal with their followers. A charismatic style of leadership involves the use of the charisma of the leader to influence the behavior of the sub-ordinates. Leaders are supposed to have a charisma that attracts others towards them. Charisma is usually characteristic of visionary leaders that tend to inspire the followers to follow them as a result of their personality traits and qualities such as honesty, integrity, commitment towards tasks and decision making power.
Transactional style of leadership is usually a task oriented style of leadership. In this style of leadership, the leaders tend to focus on the tasks that need to be completed by the followers and their entire efforts are directed at ensuring that the followers complete the tasks assigned to them. In such a leadership style, the leaders assign tasks to the employees and measure the performance of the employees on the basis of completion of the tasks. In transactional style of leadership, the relationship between the leaders and their followers are largely focused on the mutual benefits. The leaders benefit from the completion of the tasks of the followers as their main purpose is to ensure that the tasks are completed by the followers and the followers benefit from the rewards that the leaders provide on the successful completion of the tasks.
Transformational style of leadership involves a reforming approach to bring about a change in the organization through inspiring the followers. The transformative leaders inspire their followers to work towards the achievement of their goals and objectives. The transformative leaders are usually required to bring about a change in the processes and the structure of the organization and ensure that the followers are participatory in the change process at the organization and that the change is successful.
A participatory style of leadership involves the participation of the followers in the decision making process of the team. The participatory style of leadership involves an open communication channel between the leaders and the followers. Unlike the autocratic style of leadership, in the participatory style, the followers are free to express their concerns to the leaders and leaders work to ensure that the concerns of the followers are appropriately addressed.
- Leader as individual
Leader as an individual has certain traits such as integrity, patience, self-discipline, decision making, charisma and other traits that may make him an effective leader. A leader may have his own goals and aspirations and may have certain strengths and weaknesses that are a part of his behavior.
- Leader as a Social architect
It may be justified to address a leader as a social architect that designs, organizational structure and processes so as to ensure the desired outcomes . The role of the leader as social architect involves conquering many challenges. Leaders deal with the employees and various situations in hand with the organization on the basis of their capabilities. Effective leaders shape the organization roles and processes so as to ensure that the organization functions with higher efficiency and individuals of the organization are motivated enough to contribute towards the achievement of organizational goals and objectives.
In the present case study, Garret Salmon has played the role of a social architect in the organization. He has been with the company since its inception and had designed various organizational roles and processes. Garret Salmon has been an excellent social architect for the organization as the organization displayed positive performance when he was leading the organization.
Joan Salmon shall play the role of a future architect in the organization and shall be modifying the roles and processes of the employees in the organization.
- Leader as a Change agent
Leaders can act as an effective change agent to influence a change in the organizational system through the use of power and influence . In the present case study, Joan Salmon plays the role of a change agent in the organization. Joan Salmon shall design strategies that will affect the processes and working style of the employees in the organization in the long run. Joan Salmon shall adopt a transformatory leadership so as to provide a long term vision of the organization and devise the long term goals for the organization. Joan Salmon shall initiate the changes in the organization by modifying the responsibilities of the employees and defining the new roles of employees.
- Father as a manager with short-term goal orientation
Father Garret Salmon has been running the organization as it has been since the beginning. He did not design the long term strategy for the organization in the form of a well defined vision. Garret Salmon adopted a transactional and autocratic style of leadership where he assigned tasksto he employees on a daily basis and ensured that the tasks were completed by the employees. His role in the organization was largely based on the directions to the employees and ensuring that the tasks are completed by the employees. Garret Salmon did not adopt a participatory style of leadership in the organization that allowed the employees to participate in the decision making process of the employees.
- Daughter as a leader with long-term goal orientation
Daughter Joan Salmon is a young and visionary leader with a long term goal orientation. She wants the organization to further grow and expand. Joan Salmon tends to adopt a participatory, transformatory and a democratic style of leadership in the organization. Joan Salmon shall ensure the participation of the employees in the decision making process in the organization. She shall set the long term goals of the organization in the form of the organizational vision. She wants to ensure the long term growth of the organization and seeks the support and participation of the employees so as to achieve the long term goals.
- Leader as a Relationship Builder
An important role of a leader is to be a great relationship builder. A leader needs to actively interact and engage with his followers so as to influence their behavior and meet their expectations.
Joan Salmon is not good at relationship building with the employees of the organization and has limited interaction with the employees of the organization. She needs to play the role of an effective relationship builder in the organization so as to establish meaningful relationships with the employees and interact with them to understand their problems and their situations. Such an interaction shall help her in achieving the trust and confidence of the employees and better coordinate the various organizational tasks.
Garret Salmon was great at relationship building with the employees in comparison to Joan Salmon.
- How do a moral compass give direction to the implementation of a vision and contribute to the success and sustainability of the company?
Moral compass may be defined as the level of commitment of a leader towards the implementation of vision in the organization . The moral compass through its various components provides the direction to the leaders to stay committed towards the implementation of vision and thus contribute to the long term success and sustainability of the company
Figure 4 Moral Compass
- Conclusion
Leadership involves the power of an individual to influence the behavior of the other individuals so as to bring about a change in the organization or to achieve certain goals and objectives. The probability of the achievement of the goals and objectives of the employees is largely dependent on the qualities of the leader and the style of leadership followed by the leader. Leaders may follow a leadership style depending on the situation that exists in the organization. In the context of the present case study, the leadership style of father Garret Salmon was largely autocratic or transactional style of leadership. Garret Salmon was autocratic in the sense that he did not let others take part in the decision making process of the organization. He also adopted a transactional style of leadership as he did not focus on the long term goals of the organization and rather concentrated only on the short term goals of the organization. Such a leadership style, although helped in the maintenance of the performance of the organization, but it did not contribute significantly to the growth of the organization.
The leadership style of the daughter Joan Salmon was largely democratic, delegative and participatory leadership style. Joan believed in assigning responsibilities to the employees and also followed a participatory style of leadership. She wanted the employees to understand their responsibilities and did not want to interfere directly in the tasks of the employees, Joan did not believe in adopting a task oriented approach to leadership. Joan also wanted the employees to participate in the decision making process of the organization. She understood that the best method to motivate the employees and get the tasks completed was only possible by adopting a participatory style of leadership.
Recommendations:
In view of the current situation and after reviewing the leadership styles of Joan Salmon and her father Garret Salmon, the following leadership position is proposed for Garret Salmon:
Garret Salmon had expressed the desire to either take semi-retirement or complete retirement, depending on the will of his daughter Joan Salmon. However, Joan Salmon does not want to hurt the sentiments of her father. Therefore, she can decide to designate her father for the role of supportive leadership in the organization. A supportive leader shall not take an active participation in the decision making process of the organization. The supportive leader shall provide a supportive role by being inactive usually and would spring into action in case the organization is in a situation of crisis. Such a role shall ensure that Garret Salmon gets the benefit of retirement to some extent and does not follow a stringent work schedule. It also at the same time ensures that Garret Salmon is an important part of the organization and continues to serve the organization as a consultant. Such a role shall also provide an internal satisfaction to Garret Salmon who shall feel pride in providing the necessary guidance to the organization on a continuous basis in times of need.
References
Daft, R. L. (2011). The Leadership Experience. Stamford: Cengage Learning.
Havelock, R. G., & Zlotolow, S. (1995). The Change Agent's Guide. Educational Technology.
Mohan, M. L. (1993). Organizational Communication and Cultural Vision: Approaches for Analysis. NY: SUNY Press.
Thompson, L. J. (2009). The Moral Compass: Leadership for a Free World. USA: IAP.
