StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Leadership, Innovation, and Change - Coursework Example

Cite this document
Summary
The author of the "Leadership, Innovation, and Change" paper makes use of existing evidence from different researches in a bid to highlight the criticality of leadership to organizational success. The paper focuses on offering an inclusive definition of leadership…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.4% of users find it useful
Leadership, Innovation, and Change
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Leadership, Innovation, and Change"

LEADERSHIP, INNOVATION, AND CHANGE By Location Introduction It has been quoted that leaders have a critical contribution to the success of an organization, and may determine its failure. However, it is opined that there are other critical elements, which create the difference between the organizational success and failure. Despite this common belief that other critical factors determine the success of an organization, there is evidence pointing to leadership as the most significant determiner or an organization’s success or failure. Organizations consist of individuals in different levels depending on the specific organizational structure. Each level in the organizational structure requires leaders. The role of leaders in ensuring that each of the levels in an organization is functional cannot be underestimated. Some researchers have sought to dispute findings that highlight the criticality of leaders in an organization (Fuda & Badham 2011, p. 146). This has given rise to a heated debate on how much leadership contributes to organizational success. Different studies have been carried out to determine the specific attributes of leadership that seem to exert the highest level of impact on organizational success. The paper will make use of existing evidence from different researches in a bid to highlight the criticality of leadership to organizational success. Research has focused on offering an inclusive definition of leadership. However, the efforts towards a single inclusive definition of the leadership concept have not been successful. There are numerous definitions of leadership in common usage, the term leader refers to an individual holding the highest position or with a measure of control and authority in a certain organization. Whereas leadership may refer to such positions, an additional definition of leadership denotes the combination of traits and competencies that an individual holding a leadership position must exhibit, there are numerous theories which govern leadership in the modern day. In this essay, leadership will be considered as having a measure of influence and authority in an organization (Patiar & Mia n.d, p. 255). Evidently, research has revealed that an individual needs to exhibit certain skills and competencies for him or her to qualify to become a leader. Leadership is a combination of personality traits, emotional intelligence, relevant communication skills, and other qualifications that ensure that a leader can develop effective working relationships with the employees. A leader must exhibit the potential to mobilize people within an organization towards active performance in view of organizational goals. Notably, it is impossible to bring people together if a leader lacks motivational and inspirational skills. Therefore, it is critical for a leader to develop people oriented goals and relevant skills that can help him succeed in this sector. It is the responsibility of a leader to initiate innovation as well as organizational change with businesses striving to survive in the highly competitive business front, leadership is challenged to oversee all the related changes towards an adaptive strategy for each organization (Aziz et al 2012, p. 115). In addition, leadership must be task-oriented. Leaders must be aware of the organization’s business activities and tasks. It is their responsibility to ensure that all the projects of the organizations prove to be successful. This is the only way the organization can register success in terms of performance (Muchiri, Cooksey, & Walumbwa 2012, p. 662). Therefore, leadership focuses on active alignment of employees through motivation, empowerment, and training in a bid to ensure that they register remarkable performance. Eventually, this ensures that organizational goals are achieved. Research has revealed that leadership is of critical importance in determining organizational success. As mentioned above, a leader must be both people and task oriented. Therefore, the types of leadership styles exhibited by leaders determine their potential to influence employees towards organizational goals. Having the potential to communicate organizational goals to the employees and motivate them to pursue such goals is a central aspect required in leadership (McMurray et al 2012, p. 522). The leader must understand organizational goals precisely, be able to visualize the future of the organization and develop a vision, which is communicated to the employees. It is critical to get the employees involved in every step of developing organizational goals if they are to contribute positively to the achievement of the goals. This is the reason why leaders play a critical role in determining the performance of an organization. Peter Fuda, who is an influential motivational speaker in Australia, supports these research findings. He is well aware that successful leaders who can propel an organization towards success must exhibit an undying ambition, mutual accountability, authentic personality traits, and self-reflection. He presents these ideologies in forms of metaphors (Mason, Griffin, & Parker 2014, p. 174). His conviction that the type of leadership style exhibited by a leader is a determinant of the level of success that cans be obtained by the organization is well founded on evidence. The emphasis of the most effective leadership style, which has the potential of propelling an organization to success, has focused on transformational leadership. Transformational leadership has been defined as an effective leadership style that helps leaders ensure that an organization achieves its goals. This type of leadership requires the leader to have idealized influence on the employees, deliver inspirational motivation, and carry out intellectual stimulation and individualized considerations. Leaders who demonstrate competencies related to transformational leadership motivate employees towards a high level of creativity and innovation (Fuda et al 2012, p. 20). This happens if the leader can deliver a vision for the organization and effectively motivate the employees to adopt organizational goals and focus on them. Moreover, the fact that transformational leadership focuses on the higher needs of individuals by offering motivation and individualized consideration, it becomes possible for employees to register a high level of creativity and innovation. Such creativity and innovation serve as the basis for organizational success (Fuda 2013, p. 56). Transformational leadership has been described as being a promoter of teamwork and positive team orientation. Teamwork is critical in determining the success of any organization. Its criticality has contributed to some researchers viewing it as an independent factor from leadership. However, a close consideration of the efficiency of teamwork without effective leadership reveals that the team is bound to fail. This means that the kind of leaders in place determine the level of teamwork that the organization can exhibit. In a realistic sense, transformational leaders communicate a vision for the organization to all the employees. Their conviction in the vision drives employees to embrace the vision and the related goals (T 2014, p. 54). If transformational leadership is effective, then, employees are likely to register a positive growth and adopt organizational goals to become personal goals. Such employees are more guided likely to work in a team because they realize the organization’s vision and are guided by the goals towards the vision. Evidence reveals that teamwork registers a high level of efficiency and productivity. The remarkable rates of productivity are positive outcomes that define a successful organization. If teamwork were to be considered as a critical factor determining organizational success, independent from the type of leadership in place, certain impracticalities would emerge. This is because a key determinant of the functionality of a team is the presence of an effective leader (King 2014, p. 60). Transformational leaders are tasked with the introduction of a developmental culture to an organization. The need or a leader in ensuring that an organization conforms to the values defined by the culture cannot be underestimated. Evidence suggests that organizational culture values need a form of reinforcement if they are to be adopted by all the employees. A critical role of leaders is definitively the most effective organizational culture and ensuring that it is reinforced within the organization. If employees were left on their own to adopt values promoted by their organizational culture, the level of efficiency would be limited. There is a need for a leader who understands the values vividly and is prepared to ensure that they are implemented. Transformational leadership places emphasis on such type of leadership (Paulsen et al 2013, p. 595). Other factors that have been defined as critical determinants of an organizations success include communication, definition of mission and goals, accountability, clear priorities as well as creativity and innovation. A close consideration of these factors reveals that they all depend on the leadership. Studies assessing the efficiency of these factors in contributing to organizational success have revealed that there is a need for effective leaders to ensure that these factors exist in an organization. For example, in the case of communication, leaders are tasked with the role of introducing an effective communication model for an organization (Strauss, Griffin & Rafferty 2009, p. 280). If leaders are not focused on communication, efforts of ensuring that it is efficient may prove futile. In the case of creativity and innovation, only transformational leaders can serve to encourage and motivate employees to exhibit remarkable levels of innovation. Other factors such as clear priorities, the mission, and goals of the organization depend entirely on the type of leadership in place. Effective leaders will define organizational strategies, mission, and vision and define clear priorities for the organization. This serves as evidence that leadership is at the core of organizational success. Conclusion As highlighted above, some researchers have been debating on the criticality of leaders in determining the organizational success. These researchers have highlighted the importance of other factors in contributing to organizational success. However, this essay has served to reveal that leadership is the most critical factor that determines whether an organization becomes successful. All other factors depend on the type of leadership in place. More specifically, transformational leadership has highlighted that leaders are the most critical agents of change in an organization. Bibliography Aziz, S, Silong, A, Karim, N, & Hassan, H 2012, Leadership Practices in Public Sector in Selected Countries: An Integrative Literature Review, Journal Of Management Policy & Practice, 13, 1, pp. 113-126, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Fuda, P 2013, Leadership Transformed / Dr. Peter Fuda, n.p.: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013., OhioLINK Library Catalog – LR, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Fuda, P, & Badham, R 2011, Fire, Snowball, Mask, Movie: How Leaders Spark and Sustain Change, Harvard Business Review, 89, 11, pp. 145-148, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Fuda, P, Badham, R, Key, T, Reichman, P, Mazengarb, K, & Long, D 2012, How Leaders Spark And Sustain Change: Interaction, Harvard Business Review, 90, 1/2, pp. 20-21, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. King, M 2014, Authentic leadership, Chartered Accountants Journal, 93, 4, pp. 60-61, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Mason, C, Griffin, M, & Parker, S 2014, Transformational leadership development Connecting psychological and behavioral change, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 35, 3, p. 174, Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. McMurray, A, Islam, M, Sarros, J, & Pirola-Merlo, A 2012, The impact of leadership on workgroup climate and performance in a non-profit organization, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 33, 6, p. 522, Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Muchiri, M, Cooksey, R, & Walumbwa, F 2012, Transformational and social processes of leadership as predictors of organisational outcomes, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 33, 7, p. 662, Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Patiar, A, & Mia, L n.d., Transformational leadership style, market competition and departmental performance: Evidence from luxury hotels in Australia, International Journal Of Hospitality Management, 28, 2, pp. 254-262, Social Sciences Citation Index, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Paulsen, N, Callan, V, Ayoko, O, & Saunders, D 2013, Transformational leadership and innovation in an R&D organization experiencing major change, Journal Of Organizational Change Management, 26, 3, p. 595, Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Strauss, K, Griffin, M, & Rafferty, A 2009, Proactivity Directed Toward the Team and Organization: The Role of Leadership, Commitment and Role-breadth Self-efficacy, British Journal Of Management, 20, 3, pp. 279-291, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. T., WW 2014, Leadership transformed: How Ordinary Managers Become Extraordinary Leaders, Audiofile, 22, 5, p. 54, Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 September 2014. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Leadership, Innovation, and Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words, n.d.)
Leadership, Innovation, and Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words. https://studentshare.org/business/1838926-leadership-innovation-and-change
(Leadership, Innovation, and Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
Leadership, Innovation, and Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words. https://studentshare.org/business/1838926-leadership-innovation-and-change.
“Leadership, Innovation, and Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”. https://studentshare.org/business/1838926-leadership-innovation-and-change.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Leadership, Innovation, and Change

Innovation, Change, and Leadership

The author of the paper "Innovation, change, and Leadership" will begin with the statement that due to its ability to have widespread impact, innovation has emerged as an essential topic in the study of economics, entrepreneurship, business, and technology.... However, the initiatives towards change must be backed by effective leadership and guidance in order to be successful.... This is followed by the role of leadership in implementing change initiatives in organizations....
14 Pages (3500 words) Assignment

Innovation and change - open innovation and strategy

Recognizing the need for change and strategic repositioning, various options for innovations are suggested as ways through which FedEx can better its position in the logistics industry across the world.... The paper seeks to address the concept of innovation as a major defining aspect towards the success of FedEx.... It goes on to elucidate the strategies that the organization has always put into place to ensure that its innovation processes meet the demands in the market....
15 Pages (3750 words) Essay

Innovation and Change

This paper ''innovation and change'' tells us that according to Bordia, et al (2005), 'Innovation is the ability to define and develop new products and services and deliver them to market.... On the other hand, Anjani, & Dhanapal (2011) defined organizational change as a multifaceted process that is much more complex than human behavior.... In any case, it is a fact that change is inevitable in the business or organizational world since science and technology are advancing rapidly....
15 Pages (3750 words) Research Paper

Innovation and Leadership

The researcher states that the liberalization of markets, accompanied by an accelerating pace of technology and financial innovation and of new commercial platforms has led to increased integration and interdependence.... innovation and technology management is still a complicated and risky problem: most new technologies fail to be translated into products and services, and those who become products and services not always gain the status of commercial success....
15 Pages (3750 words) Assignment

Innovation & Change

This paper briefly analyses the importance of innovation and subsequent changes in the human life.... Since innovation is an entirely new thing, it may bring change.... ??Any time you change the world, you create risks” (FREUDENHEIM).... As mentioned earlier, innovation often results in huge changes in the world which may change the activities of the natural world.... In other words, even though innovations often change the human life it is not necessary that these changes may affect the human life positively alone....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

An innovative Leadership Development Programme

The focus of the paper "An innovative Leadership Development Programme (LPD)" is on organizations such as PWC, LG, Siemens, new opportunities required for growth, 'leadership innovation and Growth' (LIG), keeping intact teams as one for development, the transformation and change of the programs.... everage actionable innovative leadership development programs; organizations like Siemens, PwC US, and GE apply programs that involve changes planning in their innovations and change....
4 Pages (1000 words) Coursework

Leadership for Change & Innovation

Leadership style and managerial attribute exhibited by leaders or managers plays a crucial role in bringing about change and innovation within an organization.... This factor becomes a pivotal enabler of change and innovation.... Leadership for change & Innovati ... lear specification of direction and goals is a key determinant of change and innovation.... he field of leadership has been researched extensively by academic scholars who have introduced several unique yet effective leadership styles that encourage change and innovation....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Leadership, Innovation and Change

The research emerged from the author's interest in how leadership determines the level of market performance exhibited by an organization.... The value of leadership in improving the performance of companies in the market has been the focus of many researchers in the recent past.... The paper tells that leadership has the potential of influencing the market performance of any company.... Whereas there is evidence that leaders and their leadership style can have an impact on the market performance of the company, it is not clear the level of impact involved....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us