Management and Leadership Development - Essay Example

?MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT The study and understanding of leadership and management development have in the recent days attracted extensive attention from various professionals and critical thinkers (Alldredge, Johnson, Stoltzfus, & Vicere 2003, p.55, Buckingham, & Vosburgh 2001, p. 17). The number of learning institutions that trains leadership and management courses has significantly increased in some developed countries such as United States of American and United Kingdom (Baldwin, T. & Ford 1988, p. 105). Moreover, leaders in national level ought to have the required trait in order to execute their functions effectively. Just like, organisation leaders, national leaders need to understand the role and responsibilities of effective managers. The need to understand some of the most essential concepts in leadership and management by professionals and business executives is facilitated by the changing nature of market and market dynamic in modern society (Day2001, p. 613). The need to cope with the current competition in local and international markets has as well enhanced the increased the demand of the knowledge on leadership and management (Cromwell & Kolb 2004, p. 471, Day, 2001, p. 91). At present, there are numerous researches that have been undertaken to understand some of the most complicated concepts of leadership and management development (Bass, 1999, p.31). However, researchers have universally defined the concepts leadership and management development as broad activities that facilitate and support one’s ability to lead and manage other people and professionals in a specified social setting (Leithwood, Karen, Stephen and Kyla, 2010, p. 91, Reed, 2005, p. 163). In a good number of organisational structures, the interaction between leaders and managers has played a very essential role in their productivity and expansion (Collier, & Esteban, 2000, p.207, Palus & Horth, 2004, p439). Many researchers have attributed the development and expansion of most of the modern global corporations and institutions with effective interaction between leadership and management in their management and operations (Chappelow, 2004, p.81, Conger 1999, 179, Dering 1998, p. 32). As defined, managers in organisations are professionals who have the responsibility and ability of managing the organization through controlling all production processes. Managers have the responsibility of ensuring that, all activities and operations in an organisation are effectively managed and controlled (Martineau 2007, P.23, Procter 2002, p. 27). On the other hand, leadership is described as ability and skills of setting attainable goals in reference to the organisation goals and objectives. Leaders in any organization should therefore have the ability of communicating the set goals to others employees in a way that would enhance harmonious and voluntary teamwork in order to accomplish the established objectives and goals (Sankar 2003, p.45). To succeed in modern complicated corporate market, any organization ought to have effective and well-qualified managers and leaders. In any organisation, a manager has the responsibility of controlling, leading, organising and planning the organisation activities (Lukas, Holmes, 2007, p. 91). Therefore, some scholars have defined management as activities and functions that determine the manner in which organisation technical, human, informational and physical resources are coordinated and arranged to perform a specified responsibility that is designed to benefit the organization. Moreover, an effective leadership implies that, a qualified manager must have the ability of influencing critical process and operations in an organisation. Leaders in an organization should be focused on facilitating creation of systems, methods and strategies for building capacities and knowledge (Burns, 1978, p. 17). Although leadership and management development are used interchangeably, some scholars have identified very specific differences between leadership and management. Contrary to management development, leadership development involves the process of preparing professionals for the situations and roles that are beyond their current knowledge and experience. Management development equips a professional with skills, knowledge, and ability of facilitating performance on known responsibilities and tasks through the utilisation of proven solutions. Leadership development on the other hand is described as the process of acquiring knowledge and skills that are oriented towards developing capacity in anticipation of unforeseen complications and challenges. Moreover, leader development entails developing individual to take leadership role in any setting. Teamwork is described as the process of engaging every professional in the development and expansion of an organization. Therefore, based on the above expatiation, leadership development entails the entire development of effective and collective organisational capability. Business executive have as well defined leader development as an effective investment on human capital with an aim of facilitating interpersonal skills and competence for selected professionals. Leadership development is as well described as investment on social capital in order to create interpersonal cooperation and network within a specified social system and organization. Study on leadership and management development are also focused on five main aspects, intrapersonal attributes, cognitive ability, interpersonal qualities, task-specific skills as well as communication skills. At intrapersonal level, researchers have argued that, there is no difference between becoming a fully integrated leader and an effective leader. In interpersonal level, leadership is viewed as a social influence process. Under this explanation, leadership development is viewed as the process of enhancing inter-personal competence with aim of obtaining commitment, respect and trust with other professionals in an organisation. Cognitive skills are personal capabilities that help an individual to interact with other in any social setting (Bass 1985, p. 91). Researchers have as well identified various aspects of identifying effective leadership and management development program. Although, the success of any program depends on the available resources as well as the cognitive ability of the participants, some aspects are common in all leadership development programs. Any management and leadership training should only be restricted to practicing leaders and managers who are indentified and selected on the basis of their merit and performance. This aspect is aimed at advancing the quality of training that is offered to new leaders and managers. Researchers have also claimed that, all management practices and education should be integrated and concurrent. An effective leadership and management-training program should also be based on an interactive process. The process should also be all-inclusive and participative. All available resources and equipments should facilitate training in any leadership and management-training program. To realise the best outcome in any training program, the management development programs should be aimed at enhancing organization development. Some researchers have also claimed that, any effective training program should be aimed at improving individual personal development and professional competence (Nevins & Stumpf 1999, p.41). Some leadership development experts have also described transformational leadership as one of the most effective leadership style in modern global and local market. Transformational leadership is therefore describing as a process where leaders and followers play a critical role in enhancing organization development. Through their personality and vision, transformational leaders have the ability of motivating and influencing their followers to change their perceptions, expectations, and motivation towards achieving a common goal that is set by an organization. Therefore, transformational leadership is described as the impact that leaders have on their followers. Transformational leaders are not only supposed to challenge the status quo but are also supposed to promote and encourage creativity among their followers. In this case, leaders are supposed to support and encourage their followers to identify and explore new ways of doing things as well as new opportunities that are emerging in the market (Moxley, & O’Connnor Wison 1998, p.91). An effective transformational leader is expected to offer the required encouragement and support to their followers. To facilitate supportive relationship and interaction, transformational leaders is supposed to facilitate effective means of communication between the organization managers and lower class employee in an organization. Effective communication line enables followers to freely share their ideas and opinions with their leaders thus enhancing effective decision-making process. A successful transformational leader should also be inspiring and have vision that will facilitate development and productivity in any profit making entity. In addition, an effective transformational leader should serve as a role model to their subject by demonstrating traits that can be emulated by their subjects (Pulley, & Wakefield, 2001, p. 91). Leadership development practitioners have identified various technique of developing leaders and managers. Most of the leadership trainers and educators use 360-degree technique in training and examining new trainees. The technique is used to collect and evaluate individual perception on their performance in different dimension (Bass 2000, p. 67). By relying on this technique, practitioners collect most of their information from subordinate staffs, peers, and supervisors. The techniques have become very relevant and essential developmental tool for interpersonal knowledge and awareness. The method is also commonly used in examining individual behaviours in different constituencies (Ruderman, Hannum, Leslie, & Steed, 2001, p. 7). Executive coaching is also another mechanism that is used to train and examine leaders and managers. Executive coaching entails comprehensive feedback in order to take the necessary action that would address emerging complications in an organization. Researchers have as well confirmed that, mentoring is one of the most effective mean of developing managers and leaders. In most cases, formal mentoring entails bringing together senior level managers and leaders and junior level managers and leaders outside the actual reporting line (Craig, Bartholomew and Kelly, 2006, p. 17). An effective formal mentoring relationship plays a very essential role in advancing the mentee job satisfaction and self-esteem (Annunzio 2001, p.91). Mentors helps in enhancing counselling, creating productive friendship as well as enhancing the identification of the most effective means of addressing emerging complication and management challenges (McDowell-Larsen, Kearney, & Campbell 2002, p.317). Researchers have as well identified various traits and conditions that are very essential in enhancing both impacts of mentorship to the mentor and mentee. Some of the common aspects that enhance the success of mentorship relations entails respects of everyone intelligence, valuing the organisation goals and objectives, relations orientation, tolerance for ambiguity as well as even temperament(Spiro 2003, p.15). Researchers have as well identified networking as one of the most essential mechanism of developing leaders and managers. Networking helps in the development social capital through effective interaction with professional and managers who take more role and responsibility in an organization. In most cases, networking is aimed at developing managers and leaders beyond the basic leadership and management knowledge (Gutierrez and Tania 2007, p. 91). Networking offers a comprehensive definition of the basic terms that are used in a leadership and management position. Networking is aimed at identifying the centrality of leader and managers’ role and responsibility in an organization. Networking helps in the creation of an avenue where various professional interacts to meet organisational and personal needs and interests (Palus, & Horth, 2004, p. 439). Some scholars have also identified job assignment mechanism as one of the most effective means of developing leaders and managers (Nielsen, et al. 2010). In this process, leaders are subjected to challenging role and responsibility with an aim of testing their ability. Job assignment mechanism is especially essential in helping leaders and managers to learn some of the most essential methods of building teams, how to be effective strategic and critical thinkers as well as the most valuable way of attaining valuable influence and persuasion skills. However, to achieve the best from this technique, the identified assignments should have a high degree of responsibility that would put an individual in a situation that requires permanent change in behaviours and activities (Ohlott 2004, p. 151). Action planning has over years proved to be very effective in facilitating management and leadership development. As defined action, learning is a continuous process of reflecting previous achievement and activities (Moxley, & Pulley, 2004, p. 91). In this method, participants are expected to deliver measurable results in servicing organisation work, communicating and learning lessons that are specific to particular management aspects as well as developing collective and individual capacities for learning leadership skills. Although it is a new technique, various researchers have undertaken intensive researches to identify impacts of the technique in leadership development (Grove, Barry M. Kibel and Taylor Haas 2007, P. 27). References Alldredge, M., Johnson, C., Stoltzfus, J., & Vicere, A. 2003, “Leadership Development at3M: New Processes, New Techniques, and New Growth.” Human Resource Planning, 26(3): 45-55 Annunzio, S. 2001, “Leadership: Proven techniques for creating an environment of speed and flexibility in the digital economy”, New York NY: Free Press. Baldwin, T. & Ford, K. 1988, "Transfer of Training: A Review And Directions For Future Research', Personnel Psychology, Spring, Vol. 41 Issue 1, p63-105 Bass, B. M, 1985, “Leadership and Performance” New York, NY: Free Press. Bass, B.M., 1999, “Two Decades of Research and Development in Transformational Leadership.”European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(10): 9-32 Bass, G., 2000, “Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and Managerial Applications” New York, NY: Free Press Buckingham, M. & Vosburgh, R.M., 2001, “The 21st Century Human Resources Function: It’s the Talent, Stupid!”Human Resource Planning, 24(4): 17-23 Burns, J.M., 1978, “Leadership”, New York, N.Y: Harper and Raw Chappelow, C.T. , 2004, “360-Degree Feedback.” In McCauley, C.D. & VanVelsor, E. (eds.) Handbook of Leadership Development(3rd ed.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 58-84 Collier, J. & Esteban, R., 2000, “Systemic Leadership: Ethical and Effective.”Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(4):207-215. Conger, J.A.,1999, “Charismatic and Transformational Leadership in Organizations: An Insider’s Perspective on These Developing Streams of Research. “Leadership Quarterly, 10(2): 145-179. Craig, S. Bartholomew and Kelly M, 2006, “Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evaluations. Handbook of Leadership Development Evaluation. Ed. Kelly Hannum, Jennifer Martineau and Claire Reinelt”, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006. 19-47 Cromwell & J. Kolb 2004, “An examination of work-environment support factors affecting transfer of supervisory skills training to the work place”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 449-471 Day, D., 2001, “Leadership Development: A Review in Context”, Leadership Quarterly.1 (1) 581-613. Day, D.V., 2001, “Leadership Development: A Review in Context.”Leadership Quarterly, 11(4): 581-613. Dering, N.Z.,1998, “Leadership in Quality Organizations.”Journal for Quality & Participation, Jan/Feb: 32-35 Enright, K., 2006, “Investing in Leadership: Inspiration and Ideas from Philanthropy’s Latest Frontier” Washington, DC: Grant-makers for Effective Organizations Grove, J. T., Barry M. Kibel and Taylor Haas. , 2007, “Evalu LEAD: An Open-Systems Perspective on Evaluating Leadership Development” Handbook of Leadership Development Evaluation.Ed. Kelly Guthrie, Victoria A. and Sara N. K., 2004, “Feedback Intensive Programs. Handbook of Leadership Development” Ed. Ellen Van Velsor and Cynthia McCauley” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Gutierrez, M. and Tania T. 2007, “Leading with Theory. Handbook of Leadership Development Evaluation. Ed. Kelly Hannum, Jennifer Martineau and Claire Reinelt’ San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Hannum, Jennifer Martineau and Claire Reinelt” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Implementing team-working? A longitudinal, mixed methods field study." Human Relations, 63 (11): 1719-1741. Leithwood, K, Karen S L, Stephen A. and Kyla W. 2010, “How Leadership Influences Student Learning”, New York, NY: The Wallace Foundation Lukas, C. V., S. K. Holmes, et al. 2007, "Transformational change in health care systems: an organizational model. “Health Care Management Review, 32 (4): 309-320. Martineau, J., 2007, “Evaluating the Impact of Leader Development. Handbook of Leadership Development. Ed. Ellen Van Velsor and Cynthia McCauley” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass McDowell-Larsen, S.L., Kearney, L., & Campbell, D., 2002, “Is There a Relationship?; Regular Exercise Correlates With Higher Leadership Ratings in Senior Level Executives.”Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17 (4): 316-324. Moxley, R.S. & O’Connnor Wison, P. , 1998, “A Systems Approach to Leadership Development.” In C.D. McCauley, R.S. Moxley, & E. Van Velsor (eds.),The Centre for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Moxley, R.S., & Pulley, M.L., 2004, “Hardships.” In C.D. McCauley & E. Van Velsor (eds.)The Centre for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (2nd ed.)”, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Nevins, M., & Stumpf, S., 1999, “21st-Century Leadership: Redefining Management Education.”Strategy, Management, Competition, 3rd Quarter: 41-51 Nielsen, K., R. Randall, et al. 2010 "Does training managers enhance the effects of Ohlott, P.J., 2004, “Job Assignments.” In C.D. McCauley & E. VanVelsor (eds.), The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 151-182. Palus, C.J. & Horth, D.M., 2004, “Exploration for Development.” InC.D. McCauley & E. Van Velsor (eds.), The Centre for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 438-464. Palus, C.J. & Horth, D.M., 2004, “Exploration for Development.” In C.D. McCauley & E. Van Velsor (eds.), the Centre for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 438-464. Procter, S. 2002, “Whose evidence? Agenda setting in multi-professional research: Observations from a case study."Health, Risk and Society, 4 (1): 45-59. Pulley, M.L., & Wakefield, M., 2001, “Building Resiliency: How to Survive in Times of Change”, Greensboro, NC: Centre for Creative Leadership. Reed, J. and J. T. 2005, “Appreciating change in cancer services-An evaluation of service development strategies, "Journal of Health, Organisation and Management, 19 (2): 163-176. Ruderman, M.N., Hannum, K., Leslie, J.B., & Steed, J., 2001, “Making the Connection: Leadership Skills and Emotional Intelligence.”Leadership in Action, 21(5): 3-7. Sankar Y.,2003 “Character Not Charisma is the Critical Measure of Leadership Excellence.”Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 9(4): 45-55. Spiro, L.N., 2003, “In Search of Leaders.”CEO Magazine, October: 25-30 Read More