Role of Ethics in Successful Leadership - Literature review Example

of Table of Contents Introduction 3 Leadership role 3 Leader as individual 4 Social architect 5 Change agent5 Short-term and Long-term goal orientation 6 Relationship builder 7 Role of Ethics is successful leadership 8 Conclusion 8 References 10 Introduction Leadership must have the capability to utilize the resources and capabilities of a group to accomplish a common goal. Leaders set visions and create directions to achieve new goals (Northouse, 2012). A leader in an organisation needs to create an image that would be appreciated and followed by others. Execution of any new strategy is not possible without developing the capabilities of team and departments of the organisation. Leadership role The responsibility of a leader is to bring growth to the business, introducing winning strategies and executing them successfully. core leadership theories which are trait theory, behavioural theory, contingency and power and influence theory (Zenger & Folkman, 2002). Trait theory helps in understanding the characteristics which are helpful to lead a team or business, but behavioural theory only emphasizes on the framework of a leader’s behaviour. On the other hand, contingency theory explains that how the situations change the leadership style. Power and influence theory emphasis on the strategies a leader follows to utilize the power and position to achieve the goal (Northouse, 2012). There are few commitments that every leader should make before taking a leading position in the organisation. These commitments are the ability to challenge the current process, having a clear vision and enlisting others in that vision and recognising and rewarding others contribution. It also involves finding new opportunities and taking risks to challenge the old process (Nicholson, 2009). Joan Salmon, who is about to take the position of CEO in her father’s organisation, needs to design her own leadership plan to execute the business successfully. First, she needs to understand her own capabilities through self-assessment. Therefore, she must work on her self-management and relationship management skills by adapting herself to the current work pattern, taking initiatives for new achievements and developing and inspiring others. Leader as individual Every leader must develop their unique style to lead and manage people. This unique style must display a dynamic charisma that will make others to follow their ideas. The most discussed traits of a leader’s character are empathy, consistency, flexibility, communication, enthusiastic and initiative, direction, honesty and self-confidence, resourceful and well-educated. A leader must be open to all the positive changes. (Sarros, Cooper & Hartican, 2006) To understand the leadership capabilities of Joan and Garret Salmon, their character traits need to be observed carefully. Garret Salmon is the owner of Invitations Inc. company for the last forty years and he has some good qualities to run the business by his own. The main trait of his character is his dynamic personality which makes him a good communicator. This quality helps him to build up a relationship with employees and create followers. He is very enthusiastic in his approach and consistently leading the team for a very long time. Garret is confident in his way and quite organised. Contrary to all his good leadership traits, he also has some behavioural issues that are hindering his way towards a perfect leadership. Garret is not very flexible and he is too controlling. He is not adapting the current market changes and hasn’t introduced any innovative method or product throughout these years. These have an adverse effect on the revenue generation of the company as the cost of production is increasing day by day. On the other hand Joan Salmon is well-educated with an organisational leadership course and has various innovative marketing strategies and with the right set of her vision she can bring a new level to the company. Joan is open-minded and she believes in discussing with all the middle-level managers before establishing any changes. She is already very successful in creating a rapport with the staffs and she is well versed with their concerns. Like her father she is also a good communicator. This attribute will help her to work very closely with other employees. Social architect Leader in an organisation is an architect who designs the vision and creates strategic direction (Daft, 2014). The major responsibilities of a social architect are to shape the values and culture of the organisation and to lead the mechanism of execution (Daft, 2014). The business lacks strategic leadership. As a future CEO of the company Joan already has some vision to increase the sales potential. She needs to design those visions in such a way that these can ensure the growth of the organisation. Joan needs to create small and easily attainable mission at a time so that the staff can adapt to those changes before moving toward any other mission. The role of shaping values is important here as it decides that how she will perceive the organisational environment and shapes the strategic decisions to contribute to the organisations performance. As a social architect she should build a strong capable team and motivate the team from time to time to attain the missions. She is also concerned about the environmental effect of their product and needs to introduce little innovation that supports the growth and the environment issues as well. Change agent Change agent in an organisation is the person who helps the organization to grow and transform by concentrating on organizational effectiveness and development. Every leader must be a change leader to survive in the position (Goode, 2010). To bring changes in the organizational structure one need to work on the resistance from external and internal work environment. A change agent must possess clear vision and strong relationship building capability. She must be patient yet persistent in her way. Before implementing any change in the organisation, Joan Salmon must communicate the opportunities of those changes and make others comfortable with it. Joan, as a change agent of the company, needs to focus on the development part. Short-term and Long-term goal orientation Before taking the post of CEO, Joan must have a clear idea about her vision. She needs to divide her vision into short and long term attainable goals. In her short-term decision making process, she needs to find a suitable position for her father and she must work on creating a positive image of her as a leader. Her first goal is to select a suitable post for her father, Garret Salmon. Garret Salmon already has few followers in the organisation and he has a deep knowledge of the business. She needs to choose a proper managerial position for him that will appreciate and utilize his experience. Garret Salmon has worked very hard to make the core products visible in the market. So, he must be given a role where he will continue managing the marketing of those products. Proper attitude is very important to get accepted as a leader in a company (Williams, 2004). So her attitude must reflect all leadership qualities. The success of any organization also largely depends on the attitude of the leader. Joan Salmon must have a go getter attitude to actualize her strategies. Her attitude needs to be very positive as many changes are to be made across the organisation. Her long-term goal should be introducing new range of product and make them well-accepted in market. In her long-term goal she should start using various marketing channels such as online marketing and direct selling and must focus on generating higher revenue from these verticals. Products that eliminate usage of paper will be well-accepted in the market because these products will be very attractive and innovative. Joan can introduce products that will use recycles materials in manufacturing. To materialize these goals Joan Salmon needs to use the leadership assessment tools (Anderson, 2006). Analyzing each tool carefully in company perspective will help her to design her execution path. In the beginning, Joan Salmon should work on building interpersonal communication with all level of employees and a set of objectives should be prepared to restructure the work culture which will enhance organisational effectiveness. A new team should be built to generate ideas regarding new product design and product launch procedures. After creating teams, she needs to decide organisational and individual goals and their action plans. Her major responsibility will be introducing strategies for new work patterns and improving interactions between teams. Proper execution of these strategies will enhance the pace of targeted projects. Relationship builder Joan Salmon is going to be the new leader of the organisation. In the beginning her most difficult assignment will be building interpersonal relationship and group relationships. This will help her to create better performing and loyal teams and individuals in the organisation. She must follow few steps to build up effective communication procedure such as distributing proper email guidelines for all employees, scheduling various team events on a regular basis, assigning a team to distribute notes about all the team meetings and strategies among all level of employees, scheduling a uniform time to meet the employees to discuss about work conflicts. She can try few simple ice-breaking games to strengthen the bonding between teams (Reece, 2013). Monthly open discussion should be organised to welcome the ideas from all the managerial levels. She should remain neutral in all the discussions and when she is discussing about the organisational conflicts she must stay positive. Moreover, she can design some problem-solving activities for staffs to enhance their problem solving skills in a playful manner. Monthly assessment survey is essential to find out the loop holes within the organisation. Her flexibility and adaptability has already given her an added advantage with various teams in the organisation. Using her leadership skills to create a good relation between all those teams is a necessary step for her right now. Role of Ethics is successful leadership Ethics in the execution method ensures that the work procedures are being followed properly (Bertagni, Rosa & Salvetti, 2010). Joan Salmon needs to involve others in the ethical decision making process and should alert everyone about the grey areas of ethics. Her responsibility is to ensure that respect within the employees of the organisation is maintained and no negative interpersonal behaviour is carried on. Joan salmon, as a leader, should not influence or appreciate any favouritism practice in the work place. She must observe it time to time whether ethical codes and conducts are accurately being followed by the employees or not. Ethical approach towards the work will minimise the chances of errors and subsequently ensures timely achievement of goals (Bertagni,Rosa & Salvetti, 2010). Conclusion In this particular case study a leadership plan has been suggested for Joan Salmon as she is going to be the CEO of Invitations Inc. It can be concluded that Joan Salmon already possess a good communication skill and she has strong vision for organisational growth. She needs to work on implementation of the new strategies. To execute her strategies properly she needs to divide it in short and long-term goals and needs to go step by step by targeting one mission at a time. References Anderson Jr, R. J. (2006). The Leadership Circle Profile: breakthrough leadership assessment technology. Industrial and Commercial Training, 38(4), 175-184. Bertagni, B., Rosa, M. L. & Salvetti, F. (2010). Ethics & business: Sustainability, Social responsibility and Ethical instrument. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/2017389/Ethics_and_Business._Sustainability_Social_Responsibility_and_Ethical_Instruments. Daft, R. (2014). The Leadership Experience. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Goode, F. K. (2010). Moral Leadership. Illinois: Lulu.com. Nicholson, W.M. (2009). Leadership Practices, Organizational Commitment, and Turnover Intentions: A Correlational Study in a Call Center. Michigan: ProQuest. Northouse, P. G. (2012). Leadership: Theory and Practice. California: SAGE. Reece, B. (2013). Effective Human Relations: Interpersonal and Organizational Applications. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Sarros, J. C., Cooper B. K. & Hartican, A. M. (2006). Leadership and character. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 27(8), 683-689. Williams, S. D. (2004). Personality, attitude, and leader influences on divergent thinking and creativity in organizations. European Journal of Innovation Management, 7(3), 187-204. Zenger, J.H. & Folkman, J. (2002), The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders. Newyork: McGraw-Hill. Read More