Leadership Run Amok - Case Study Example

Leadership Run Amok Identification of research problem and hypothesis as formulated in the article The major problem area on the basis of which this research is conducted is the pros and cons of over achievement. The strength of any organization or an individual is the desire to achieve. The power of achievement is such that it results into energy and passion that is important for sustainable growth of an organization for long run. The leaders who have the motive to achieve more can be very productive for an organization but at the same time also can be harmful for an organization in terms that it can affect the performance of the other subordinates in the organization. The main area of focus of this research study is that during the past decades the achievement motive has resulted into more of productivity and innovation but at the same time decreased the trust level that the employees has towards management and even the confidence level of the employees. Hence the research problem is to determine the appropriate leadership style and the motives that should be prevailing in an organization for further growth (Srinath, 2009). The research study encompasses a survey conducted on IBM to analyze the ways through which the individual achievement motive can be converted into more of socialized power in order to value team work, collaborative performance, and facilitate greater needs of the company. The hypothesis that are formulated by the authors of the article is – the overachieving leaders for short term can be successful but for long run it can damage performance, overachievers tend to coerce and command rather than collaborate or coach the subordinates, too much focus on achievement can undermine morale and demolish trust, and organizations play a role in influencing the actions of executives though behavior is individual responsibility. Importance of the study and in relation to UAE environment The research study is very significant in today’s competitive world as the leaders or the managers are the ones who drive the performance of the organization. The leaders need to be achievement oriented but at the same time needs to focus on its team members and follow an appropriate leadership style that would motivate and increase the motivation and confidence level of all the subordinates. The importance of this study is that it helps to analyze what are the factors that should be adopted by the leaders for long term success of an organization. The UAE business environment comprises of people coming from many nationals and in such a scenario the leaders or the manager’s needs to work in collaboration with all the team members to yield desirable results or else there would conflicts in the organization. In such an environment individual goal and achievement oriented attitude would prove to be beneficial for short term but not for long run and hence in such a case the study would help in determining various aspects regarding the motives and styles that should be possessed by leaders of such multi cultural organization in UAE. Methodology included in the study The research methodology that is used in this study comprises of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative research method basically comprises of text based research and is more of descriptive in nature but the quantitative research methods comprises of structured surveys and interviews so as to determine some numerical information that can be treated as reliable and valid. The study is based on a survey that is conducted in IBM in which the managers are divided into groups to analyze the leadership styles and motives of 2000 managers in group which even comprised of 300 leaders. The two groups of managers were one that created a neutral environment and the other is the ones that create strong climates. The managers were interviewed to depict a new model into the system of the organization. The research even comprises of secondary researches based on various research materials, journals etc analyzing the different leaders and the effect of motives and styles on the performance of their respective organizations. Assumptions, limitations and potential for future research study The research study is based on the concept that overachievers seems to be more dominating in nature compared to those leaders who are not only focused towards tasks and goals but also achieving strong relationships with the subordinates of the organization. The research study is based on many assumptions on the basis of which the entire research process is conducted. The first assumption on which the study is conducted states that the leaders who are achievement oriented tends to be commanding in nature who directs the entire team rather being collaborative in nature. The research study even assumes that focusing on achievement to a great extent can disrupt the entire environment of an organization and can even lower down the confidence level of the other people working in the system (Lussier, 2012). The study even assumes that amongst all the motives such as achievement, affiliation personalized and socialized motive, it is considered that socialized motive that focuses towards involving others, encouraging others for further development, coaching and following democratic leadership style is more beneficial for the overall development of the team and even helps ins sustaining long term growth of an organization. The study even assumes that the leadership styles such as affiliative, participative, and coaching proves to be more beneficial for the future growth of IBM in comparison of the other styles such as directive, visionary which tends to generate productivity for short term. The limitation of the research is that there is not much of data provided regarding the benefits that overachievement attitude has caused towards an organization so as to outline a clear contrast in relation to the advantages and disadvantages that over achievement leaders have towards an organization. The other limitations are that the survey that is conducted on IBM managers can have certain loopholes such as the managers do not reveal the exact motives that they follow in the organization and this would be result into more of biased result (Iqbal, 2011). There is a great scope for this research study in the nearby future as the topic is related to a concern area of many organizations. The leaders needs to work together as a team as this can only yield desirable outcomes and not just be focused on individual goals. The further research can be conducted on some other organizations that faces workplace conflicts because of this issue and then research can be conducted to determine the factors behind it and even a study can be conducted on the basis of countries just to determine whether the culture affects such behaviors in leaders or not or it has no relation with culture. Summary and Conclusion The study determines that overachievers tend to be very commanding by nature and this as a result disrupts the performance of the entire organization. The leaders who are more of achievement oriented are more prone to trust their subordinates less and perform their work on their own without depending much on the subordinates. Even if the subordinates make some reports it is doubly rectified and again made by the leaders. The leaders or the managers who possess such an attitude can only direct their team members but cannot take effective measures so as to form collaborative relationships with other team members and encourage them to participate in various decision making or strategy formulation or even acknowledge them for their innovative ideas. There were many cases that were analyzed in this study all of which had a common motive that the subordinates always remain demotivated and have less confidence level is their leaders are just goal oriented. The cases depicts that such an achievement motive can result of need and concerns but would not be effective for initiating success in an organization as such motive has more focus on individual needs rather than the common needs and goal of an enterprise. The study even states that affiliation and achievement are achieved by an individual through the skills and knowledge acquired and even it forms one of the basis behavior of individual whereas appropriate selection needs to be made between personalized and socialized behavior. The personalized power is focused on exercising power over others and making the subordinates feel weak and dominated. On the contrary socialized power is focused on persuading others towards a common goal and even developing emotions amongst the people inside as well as outside the organizations. The socialized power motive is related to coaching and guiding people and not being arrogant or ruthless. The leaders who follow such socialized motive prove to be productive in nature compared to those who are just focused on achievements and success. There exist various leadership styles such as visionary, directive, coaching, participative, democratic, etc.; it depends on the situation as to select which style is the most appropriate for dealing with such a situation. However the study has revealed the fact that leadership style such as participative, visionary, democratic, coaching styles are the best suited for leaders working in today’s organizations. The survey that was conducted on 2000 managers in IBM yielded certain results that there are various behaviors that can be incorporated in the system of IBM so as to deliver the best outcomes. The organization focused on developing a competency model that would comprise of certain attributes such as team commitment, work together, coaching, and promoting and developing the leaders. High achievement is strength for a company but the company should be cautious on when to control such motive so as to avoid the damages. References Srinath, T.T. (2009). Team Development and Team Effectiveness. Hyderabad: ICFAI Book. Lussier, R. (2012). .Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. USA: Cengage Learning. Iqbal, T. (2011). The Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Effectiveness. Germany: GRIN Verlag Read More