Use of Leadership in Maximisation Potential - Research Paper Example

? Use of leadership in maximisation potential of the organisation and its employees Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Transforming Leadership 4 Transactional Leadership 5 Transformational Leadership 5 Super Leadership 6 Social Learning Theory and Modelling 6 Conclusion 7 References 9 Introduction Leadership is the process of influencing other beings so as to facilitate the attainment of organizational goals. A leader is a person who can influence the behaviour of others in the organization like peers, subordinates and superiors etc. One of the major purposes of leadership is to achieve the goals which are relevant to the business management. According to Warren Bennis who is a leading expert on leadership, shares four characteristics which virtually all leaders shares Providing direction and meaning to the people which they are leading Generating trust in them. They provide the hope in times of difficulty They favour to take action and possess the ability to take risk. Leadership is used in everyday context not only to guide an organization, but to guide an entire industry. Leadership basically is the ability to influence any group towards achievement of the goals. They show the road, the path, and the way of a ship at the sea. Leaders are more concerned with the idea generating process and steering the whole industry. They leave a mark on the entire industry. They basically become the guiding light to be followed by others. Their ideas and deeds influence the behaviour of other organisations in the industry. Leadership is important not only in government but also in other areas of life. There are many ways to lead an industry. Some leaders are like teachers who teach the entire industry, break rules and create new rules. Some are like heroes who are responsible for great works and noble causes; and some are like rulers who are self-motivated to dominate others. We will focus on Manufacturing Industry in this case. In United States there is a need for some dedicated industrial leaders who re motivated to confront the challenges that are posed by todays’ work environment. Today’s work environment is turbulent and complex. There are several critical issues which an industry in a manufacturing sector faces in contrast to those faced in 1970s and 1980s. Some critics like Heilbrunn and Garner suggest that employees are now less willing to accept the leadership roles in the companies. One reason may be that there is sense of distrust within the society for the leaders. The leaders also have to face multiple competitive forces which include the adoption of technological changes, shortage of technical staffs. There is also a perception that manufacturing sector is a diminishing sector. The situation has been complicated by exportation of jobs outside. Another key challenge is the demographics of the workforce. With change in generations social issues become another important factor which makes it difficult. The younger generation wants to be paid higher as compared to the previous generations. They have a different mental psychological model which affects their degree of commitment in the job. Young generations tend to be more independent, less formal and they also lead a very active social life and expect a pleasant work climate. These issues make the leadership role much more demanding in manufacturing companies. Transforming Leadership Here through the process of engagement between the leaders and the followers, they raise the motivation level of one another to higher levels (Scott, 2010, p.120). It basically raises both the level of human conduct and ethical aspirations of leader and the employees and thus has a transforming effect on them. Here the leader takes a leader-led connection. He basically creates the link of communication and allows the flow of exchange to take place in the organisation (Hackman, and Johnson, 2013, p. 123). He carries the main role of both the leaders and his followers. He takes care of the followers’ wants, needs and other motivational things. He basically serves like an independent force in making up the follower’s motive base (Burns, 2003, p. 230). Transactional Leadership In transactional leadership the leaders takes the initiative in contacting others so that some valued exchange happens (Hood, 2007, p. 120). The exchange which takes place can be political, social, economic or psychological in nature. Here each party bargains about their purpose. They are conscious of the power resource and the attitude of each other. Each person knows the other person (Goodridge, 2006, p. 54). The purpose of both the parties is related so that they can bargain about their purpose. But this is the extent of their relationship. The parties do not have any other purpose which holds them together and as a result they go their separate ways. This leadership style does not bind the leader and follower together in a mutual purpose. Transformational Leadership This style of leadership supplements the effects of transactional leadership on the satisfaction, efforts and effectiveness of its subordinates (Bass and Riggio, 2012, p. 135). There are many examples like Lincoln, Kennedy; Roosevelt did not shy away from being transformational and transactional at the same time. By doing this they were able to run the nation and do politics as well (Gilbert, 2012, p. 132). A transformational leader motivates an employee in doing more than what he originally did. The two main factors are inspiration and charisma. It doesn’t need the moral component to it. Hitler is considered to be a transformational leader. They increase the commitment and motivational level of the employees (Hacker and Roberts, 2003, p. 132). Super Leadership This leadership theory is based on the social learning theory. Super Leadership theory mainly gives importance on development of self-leaders. Through these process leaders teaches the followers to be leaders or self-leaders (Robinson, 2008, p. 54). The super Leader influences the behaviours of the followers by teaching or influencing them to be competent, responsible, self-disciplined, and capable. Through this process the ultimate aim is empowerment of the followers (Eagly and Johnson, 1990, p. 56). The self-leaders can manage their own team in a much better way (Institute of Leadership & Institute of Leadership and Mana. 2012, p. 24). According to social learning theory modelling is a form of influencing and teaching. Hence if the modelling is done according to ethical and moral way, the followers will also be moulded in that way. This model is an extension of the transforming leadership model (Eagly and Schmidt 2003, p. 43). Social Learning Theory and Modelling In organization behaviour modelling provides an opportunity for learning by employees. Three types of models are possible Members of an organization learn what the acceptable forms of behaviour in an organization are and modify it accordingly. Members observe the positive or negative consequences of an action and adjust their behaviour accordingly. When the behaviours of the members are cued, it makes the employees remember their ethical model they had learned in workshop and use them in real life problems. Modelling influences the ethical behaviour of the employees. Moral talk can also be an important method in the model. Moral talk can arouse feelings within the employees which will lead them to do moral action (Kippenberger, 2002, p. 11). Moral talk helps the leaders and the followers to fulfil their explicit promises and agreements. Hence it is important for leaders who want moral and ethical behaviour to use “Moral Talk”. It was found that three main theories are important to leadership in influencing the employees Transforming Leadership Ethical Theory Social Learning theory It was found that if a Leader is too aggressive, it is negative point and might act as a hindrance in working with foreign people, but it is good for the overall company for finding out new business or partnerships (Mehrotra, 2005, p. 65). But if a leader is slow in making difficult decisions regarding terminating a non-performer, then it indicate that the employee had many chances of improving its performances but it couldn’t (Doh, 2003, p. 43). Then the leader must make a decision to remove that employee after proper consultation with the other employees. These types of Leaders know themselves well enough and hence they are working to improve their leadership style and strengthen their interpersonal skill. They know the importance of need to control them and seek feedback about their qualities. Conclusion After proper analysis it was found that transforming leaders are in demand nowadays. They have unique attitude, actions and through their actions they have played a major role in transitioning a company. These leaders believe in high moral and ethical behaviour which are important for good leadership. They believe that moral empowerment is an important factor in this leadership style. There are many factors which play important role in the decision-making process of the leaders. Two among them are ethics and moral. This is an important factor for the customers, suppliers, the community, employees. These leaders are extremely concerned about the company and want to become a good corporate citizen. They have high moral along with a definite sense of what is right and what is wrong. Hence it is clear that most effective leadership qualities cannot be taught in the class. The most effective way to learn about such qualities is to work with them see them in action. Hence in this changing scenario in the manufacturing industry leadership qualities need to be upgraded to accommodate the changing demands of the employees and the business. References Hackman, M., and Johnson, C.E., 2013. Leadership: A Communication Perspective, Sixth Edition. New York: Waveland Press. Burns, J.M., 2003. Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness. New York: Grove Press. Scott, K.T., 2010. Transforming Leadership. New York: Church Publishing, Inc. Hood, J.D., 2007. Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles: An Exploratory Investigation of Traditional and Nontraditional Student Perceptions. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Goodridge, D., 2006. Relationships between Transformational and Transactional Leadership with the Motivation of Subordinates. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Bass, B.M. and Riggio, R.E., 2012. Transformational Leadership. New Jersey: Psychology Press. Gilbert, K.D., 2012. Transformational Leadership. New York: Xulon Press. 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