Analysis of about Leadership Development - Literature review Example

Leadership Development Introduction: This Literature Review undertakes an examination of available literature to support a quantitative study on the topic of: “Leadership Development: Skills and techniques used for better communications. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that contribute to a lack of good interaction between leaders and their teams as perceived by 200 employees in 20 different organizations in the United States. Two major research questions are posed as a part of this study: (a) Is there a relationship between leadership skill development, leader behavior, supervision and coordination on the team communication? (b) What are the skills required to indicate transformational factors and the transactional factors that can affect leader outcomes of effectiveness and team satisfaction? Topics for this study The topics and sub-topics that would comprise my study would be roughly as follows: Topic A: leadership, which will provide an introduction to the two major types of leadership – transformational and transactional. This section will examine the two different kinds of leadership – transformational and transactional, in order to assess the impact of each leadership style upon organizational style of functioning and employee motivation. This will also help to identify which style of leadership may be more helpful in the current organizational context, where global competition is intensive. TOPIC B: Team Communication, or the impact of leadership upon team communication. This section will examine the impact of leadership styles specifically upon team communication and interaction. It will also look into differences in managerial styles within different organizational contexts and the corresponding impact upon employee perceptions. Importance of the Literature Review: An attempt will be made in this study to conduct a thorough examination of the literature review, in order to determine what previous authors have concluded as a result of quantitative studies that have examined the issue of leadership. In view of the studies that are examined below, the importance of the research question posed in this study is further highlighted. In a rapidly changing, global environment that is also intensely competitive, the importance of relevant, clear and effective leadership becomes vital in ensuring organizational success. Outline of Literature Review: In examining the nature of transformational and transactional leadership, the following articles described below may be very useful. The article by Tatum et al (2003) is useful in comparing transformational and transactional leaders. It points out the differences between these leaders in their decision making styles and organizational justice patterns. Transformational leaders adopt a comprehensive approach in their decision making and tend to focus on the achievement of social justice in the workplace. Transactional leaders on the other hand, adopt a more structured approach towards organizational justice and in their decision making, they tend to favor limited options and few alternatives. A study conducted by Aarons (2006) developed the concept of transformational and transactional leadership further in the context of mental health providers attitudes towards adopting evidence based practice. The participants in this study were 303 mental health service clinicians and case managers from 49 different programs who were providing services to children, adolescents and their families. The authors of this study gathered data on the attitude of the service providers towards their leaders. During the analysis process, zero order correlations and multilevel regression analyses were performed, which helped to control for the service providers’ characteristics. This study however led to the finding that both transformational as well as transactional styles of leadership were positively associated with positive attitudes of the service providers towards evidence based practice. But the study also showed that the transformational leadership style was negatively associated with the providers’ perception of the difference between the provider’s current practice and evidence based practice. On this basis, the study concluded that improving the skills of both transformational and transactional styles of leadership may be useful in contributing to preparation for implementing evidence based practices. . To improve the effectiveness of transactional leaders, Lyons (2007) offers the view that managers can learn how to behave in such a manner that employees perceive him or her as influential. This influence serves to help the manager to coordinate activities of team members in the manner in which he or she would like them to act and behave and thereby improves team communication. This study is important in providing suggestions for those organizations which currently employ a transactional style of leadership on how they can be more effective in terms of eliciting better employee performance and high levels of motivation. The components of transformational and transactional leadership were examined by Avolio et al (1999). The respondents in this study numbered 3786 participants in 14 independent samples that ranged in size from 45 to 549 in the US as well as in foreign forms and agencies. All of these respondents completed the latest version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire form, in which they described their current leader. This questionnaire had originally been devised by Avolio and Bass on the basis of nine models representing different factor structures. In the instant study, these models were tested in an original set containing nine samples, then in a second replication set comprising 5 samples. The results that were obtained in this study indicated that the factor structure for the MLQ survey was best represented by 6 lower factor orders and 3 correlated higher order factors. This study is extremely important in the context of the importance of leadership in the current global competitive environment. It indicates that transformational leadership styles may need to be observed at all organizational levels, because transactional leadership styles do not go far enough in building trust and developing motivation. In examining the impact of leadership on team communication, the following articles may be useful: An article by Sabine Koch (2004) investigated the communicative construction of gender in the context of leadership. In an experiment conducted by the author, a situation was created in which the gender of the leader existed only as an assumption in the eye of the beholder. During a team meeting in which a masked clip of a leader was shown, labeled either as Mr. K or Mrs. K, the results supported the conclusion that the assumption of the leader’s gender by the team had an impact upon the trait ratings of that leader. This study showed that women were ranked higher on agentic traits as compared to men. This was interpreted through the use of a double effect standard in leadership perception based upon the use of non verbal cues by members of the team. This study is very useful to illustrate that there is a perceptual process that is applicable in leadership which may be gender construed and may play an important role in leadership perception within an organizational context as well. Therefore, if organizational effort can be directed towards improving the perception of leadership within the organization, there is likely to be a corresponding improvement in organizational performance as well. In discussing managerial supervisory ability and its impact on team communication, the article by Shivers Blackwell (2004) is useful in providing insight into why managers may behave differently in similar organizations and within similar jobs. In an organization where the hierarchical framework is more clearly defined and where ego and power roles are established, a manager may find it difficult to bring about changes in the entrenched way of working. Employees in such a firm are resistant to change and therefore, the manager may have to modify his approach to be more in line with the power roles defined within the organization and adhere to his own role as defined in the organizational content. Another useful article in the context of supervision is by Muir, because it deals with the development of soft skills at work. These are interpersonal skills that managers need to have if they are to interact successfully with their employees and foster good team communication. According to Serio and Epperly(2006), leadership is fundamentally about creating positive and productive relationships which also includes the ability to make good connections and inspire others. A leader can improve team communication and coordination skills by seeking feedback from team members, formalizing team communications and nurturing team spirit. Conclusions from the literature review: The literature review and the reports that have been examined above demonstrate the differences in the impact of transformational leaders and transactional leaders. The role played by transactional leaders may be inadequate in the current global organizational context and there is an increasing need for transformational leaders at all organizational levels. It is only transformational leaders who are able to adequately inspire and motivate their followers. Moreover, gender also influences perceptions of followers about their leaders. In some instances, the organizational structure may need to be amended in order to allow managers to function as transformational leaders. Soft skills also play a vital role, since it is only those leaders who can interact well with members of the team that can ensure unity and efficiency in team communications and functioning. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY * Aarons, Gregory A, 2006. “Transformational and Transactional leadership: Association with attitudes towards evidence based practice.” Psychiatric Services, 57(8): 1162 This is an experiment that was conducted within the mental health service context, in order to examine the attitudes of service providers towards evidence based and current practice. The participants in the study were several mental health providers working with children, adolescents and their families. This study found that while service providers had a positive correlation with evidence based practice, there was negative correlation where transformational leaders were concerned, in so far as the difference between current and evidence based practice was concerned. * Avolio, Bruce J, Bass, Bernard M, and Dong, Jung I, 1999. “Re-examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the multifactor leadership questionnaire.” Journal of Occupational and organizational Psychology, 72(4): 441-463 This is an important survey that was carried out using a large number of respondents, who were asked to rate their leaders on the Multi factor questionnaire that was originally developed by Avolio and Bass, acknowledged experts on the concept of leadership. The results of this study served to highlight the fact that transactional leaders are just not adequate in the current global, competitive setting because they are unable to inspire the necessary levels of trust and motivation that are required for an organization to function successfully. * Koch, Sabine, C, 2004. “Constructing gender: A lens-model inspired gender communication approach.”, Sex Roles, 51 (3-4) :171 This is a report on an experiment that was conducted using a team who were exposed to a video demonstrating a leadership role but using a masked figure so that the participants were not aware whether or not the leader was a man or a woman. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the extent to which gender played a part in individual perception of the effectiveness of a team leader. The survey found that women ranked higher on the agentic scale as compared to men. * Lyons, Paul, 2007. “A leadership model to improve organizational competitiveness.” ACR, 15(1&2). This is an article which examines the human factors that influence a firm’s competitive behavior. It rates human capital highly in providing a competitive edge to an organization in a globalized economy. It suggests tactics by which a transactional leader can project a leadership attitude towards others and at the same time can also ensure that the aura of influence ensures compliance from team members. Since leadership basically involves the ability to motivate followers and get them to follow the right principles and procedures, this article is useful in providing insight into how a transactional leader can be more effective, without necessarily employing the visionary methods of transformational leaders. * Muir, Clive. “Learning Soft skills at work: An interview with Annalee Luhman.” Business Practices. This is an article which discusses the need for managers to develop good interpersonal communications at work, which are also referred to as soft skills in order to maintain a good relationship with employees and ensure effective team communication. Traditional theories and models of leadership have not focused much on the issue of soft skills. Leadership has been viewed as a function of the personal qualities of the leader, however this article demonstrates that a good leader must have the skills to interact successfully with people. An effective leader can foster good team communication by using interpersonal skills, while a leader without such soft skills is likely to find it difficult to ensure effective team communication and the achievement of organizational goals. * Pillai, R., Schriesheim, C. A. and Williams, E., 1999. “Fairness perceptions and trust as mediators for transformational and transactional leadership: A two-sample study.” Journal of Management, 25(6), 897-934. This is an article that specifically examines the perceptions of employees of their leaders, especially based on the system of impersonal rewards offered by the transactional leader as opposed to the visionary encouragement and support offered by the transformational leader. The authors also examined the trust to organizational obligation and employee satisfaction from work. They found that there is an indirect relationship between organizational obligation and transformational leadership, suggesting that there may be higher levels of trust from employees for transformational leaders. Serio, Catherine D and Epperly, Ted, 2006. “Physician leadership: a new model for a new generation.” Health Care Strategic Management, 24(5):10-12 In this journal article, the authors have examined leadership roles among physicians. The findings in the study emphasize the role of leadership in creating positive relationships among team members. They have suggested five leadership practices to make strong connections and inspire others. These include (a) adopting a daily self reflection ritual (b) rating one’s optimism (c) seeking feedback from team members (d) formalizing team communication and (e) nurturing team spirit. Although these have been developed specifically for use in the health care context, they are equally relevant in terms of leadership at any organization where the achievement of team effectiveness is the goal. * Shivers-Blackwell, Shirley, 2004. “Using Role Theory to examine determinants of Transformational and Transactional Leader behavior”, Journal of Leadership and organizational Studies, 10(3) 41-51 In this article, the author examines how managers can behave differently in similar organizations and within similar roles, by using role theory. This article identifies the organizational context as an important factor in determining manager behavior and its resultant effect as transformational or transactional leadership. This article is important because it reveals that leadership does not depend only upon the individual qualities a leader may have, but is also influenced by the nature of the organization within which the individual has to function. * Tatum, Charles B, Eberlin, Richard, Kottraba, Carin and Bradberry, Travis, 2003. “Leadership, Decision making and organizational justice.” Management Decision, 41(10): 1006 This articles the differences in decision making among transformational and transactional leaders. While transformational leaders tend to prefer a comprehensive style of decision making, transactional leaders tend to use a limited information base and may consider fewer alternative routes. This article also highlights the differences among the two types of leaders on organizational justice – while transformational leaders emphasize social dimensions of justice, transactional leaders emphasize the structural features of workplace justice. Read More