Tools and Interventions in Providing Leadership - Essay Example

Section II Tools and Interventions in Providing Leadership Organizational Behavior is the examination and application of facts and data about the actions of individuals and groups in any given organization. This is done by adopting a systems approach whereby the relationships between workers and organizations are interpreted in the context of the entire group, organization and social systems. The purpose is to develop higher level of relationship in order to achieve human objectives, organization objectives and social objectives. It can be understood from the definition that organizational behaviour includes a wide range of subjects such as leadership, team building, human behaviour and change management. Organizational culture is a concept in the field of organizational studies that deals with the values, belief systems, experience, attitude and psychology of a given organization. In essence, it is the crux of the norms and values which are common amongst people and teams in any organization whereby interactions amongst people and external stakeholders are controlled. Organizational culture is indicative of the kind of beliefs and ideas that people in an organization have about their goals and about the standard and behaviour to pursue in order to achieve the given goals. Organizational values determine the norms and expectation that further ascertain the kind of behaviour that employee adopt under different situations to control the behaviour of all members of the organization with each other. Interventions are the main learning procedures adopted by organizations during the action stage of organizational development. They are activities which are structured in being used on individuals or on a group of employees in order to bring improvement in their job or social performance. They can be implemented by change agents in being a part of a development program or to check upon the health status of the organization or to bring about changes in behaviour. Interventions in this regard relate to several different processes such as group discussions, interviews, attitude survey, questionnaire and experiential assignments. An intervention can also be described as any action that impacts the improvement efforts of the organization. There are several strategies for intervention depending upon the nature of functions in the organization which are based on the understanding that the main building block of any organization is its groups and teams, which implies that the basic unit of change are not people but groups and teams. To bring about change in organizational behaviour and to improve the culture, it is essential to reduce competition that is not appropriate between different groups in the organization. It is better to develop conditions of collective collaboration. In healthy organizations the decision making process always emanates from the source of information instead of the different levels of hierarchy. Organizations and their departments, along with individuals, constantly strive to achieve their goals in assuming that exerting controls are more of interim arrangements and not the core management approach. A major goal of every healthful organization is to develop a communication environment that is open and inclusive of high level of trust and faith across all levels of workers and teams. If people are permitted to participate actively in the planning and execution of the change process they will genuinely support all initiatives in bringing the required changes. Interventions are designed to enhance efficiency of employees by way of inter group relationships that focus on task and process issues. They are classified on the basis of the chosen mechanisms such as receiving and giving feedback, recognition of the shift in cultural norms, interactions on conflict, education and communication by acquiring skill practices and new knowledge. A major challenge for leaders pertains to creating a safe learning and change management environment. If the climate is favourable the learning process builds by itself and continues consistently during the life time of the individual. When there is new behavior, new problems and dilemmas are created in adverse climates; the learning process becomes uncertain and in such an environment of psychological threats the learning process stops altogether. Some of the major interventions that can be used by organizations to improve organizational behavior and culture are leadership development, TQM, downsizing, performance appraisals, mentoring, coaching and team building. Organizational development occurs in using these interventions. A crucial role is played in every organization by way of the behavioral patterns, activities and attitudes that characterize the manner in which individuals work. They have a profound impact on all aspects of the organization’s working and performance. Organizations need to fundamentally reshape their working environment which proves to be a difficult challenge for most organizational leaders. Such initiatives require important techniques to be implemented such as multiple interventions, broad participation and the active involvement of managers. Different tactical considerations need to be focused upon leveraging in order to alter behavior and attitudes across the entire organization. The task is complex but it is possible to make long lasting changes if senior leaders undertake the tasks with commitment, courage and perseverance. It is now recognized that children need opportunities that result in adequate development of their physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual potential. It is sometimes assumed by educational leaders that the prevalent educational system creates a natural learning environment for both staff and students in believing that they are ethical leaders. But if educational administrators are to be fully aware of the perfect learning environment, they have to first become capable to start on a journey of personal development during their tenure in the field of education. Ethical procedures imply complying with professional standards and the ethical leader will spend a lot of time and energy to explore his or her respective belief system. Such leaders should then identify with the best experiences of intellectual, spiritual and personal growth and learn how to develop such traits in others. In this way leaders can succeed in working towards improving the educational systems so that the need and capability of every student is identified and supported. Children in the present educational system have higher capacity to understand what is relevant; they are more intolerant towards stagnant conditions and are demanding in seeking authenticity. Hence the system requires to be transformed in accommodating the new learners. Section III Optimum Organizational Leadership Factors There are a number of research findings, theoretical postulations and practitioner reflections in the area of education improvement, culture and climate, but very less has been written in explaining the complex roles played by educational climate and culture in improving the educational process. It is important for education leaders to correctly assess the culture and climate in their institutions, how such culture and climate impacts the institution and how they are impacted by the improvement process of education. Education leaders also need to develop and shape climates and cultures which result in the improvement of the educational centers. It is imperative to understand that organizational improvement cannot happen in an environment that is sterile and without action. Positive results are achieved only if there are good human systems and proactive organizations that have in place strong values, norms, assumptions and beliefs which are characteristic to the individual members in the organization. Such shared individual perceptions and cultural traits can significantly impact and be impacted by the process of education improvement. The initial phase of the school improvement process requires the identification of the institution’s organization need and then making the relevant decision in addressing the institutional needs. The culture and climate of any educational institution have an important bearing at this stage. For instance, if the institution’s climate is of high hindrance and high disengagement, it is not likely that the institution will move ahead with its aim of engaging in significant improvement efforts. If it is forced to do so, no significant results will be achieved. Similarly, if the culture in the institution pertains to cultural malaise, the improvement process will be successful beyond the initial steps. However if the climates are healthy with positive culture with a record of positive organizational changes, the institution can successfully opt towards improvement plans. Three major elements take shape during an institution’s improvement process: Change Motivation Professional development All these three elements influence and are influenced by the institution’s climate and culture. It is known that not all changes are of the same extent. It is always better to change a person’s perceptions or knowledge as compared to his or her behavior. It is also easy to alter a person’s behavior than that of an organization. Generally the most difficult task is to change the values, assumptions, and belief of any organization; in other words, it is difficult to change its culture. Therefore, the extent of the institution’s efforts to improve depends on the changes to be introduced in the organizational culture which have a major influence on the chances of its successful implementation. The more deeply held and shared are the values, assumptions, and beliefs, the more difficult it becomes to alter them. The institution’s culture clearly determines the process of implementation. Such actions should be created in conforming to or at the minimum, be relatively acceptable to the present culture, as far as possible without contradicting the important aspects of the planned change initiatives. Sometimes framing and sequencing of the procedures of the implementation process can be managed in being less harmful to the prevailing culture of the institution. In other cases, the planned changes are in considerable conflict with the organizational cultures in necessitating the shaping and modification of the culture. Under such conditions it becomes necessary to adjust the timeline accordingly. In educational institutions cultural change is not to be implemented in the short term. Some education leaders have made attempts in changing the institution’s culture and climate directly by way of developing staff but this strategy is unlikely to succeed except for bringing in changes that are not very significant. However, over a consistent time period, the culture and climate may be altered as an indirect result of staff development. Self confidence can be gained by teachers if they develop the new skills in implementing the planned improvement and succeed in motivating change in the institution’s climate. It is known that teachers can succeed with new behaviors and can change the underlying values, beliefs, and assumptions, thus developing a positive organizational culture. According to Evans (2001), the final stage of the implementation process is to shift from conflicts to consensus, thus resulting in widespread support for the required changes. This also amounts to shaping the organization’s culture. It is important that majority of the organization’s members should accept and practice the new behavior as required to improve the institution and to develop the related values, assumptions, and beliefs. If the values, assumptions, and beliefs are more deep rooted and widespread, they become more strong and resistant to negative forces. When there are significant planned changes, such procedures can take several years to succeed. This process starts with the implementation phase of the institution’s improvement process, but concludes with the phase of institutionalization. School leaders now recognize that culture and climate in the institutions needs to be changed and have started making attempts to get meaningful results. Some institutions have adopted the direct approach whereby some members are removed and others who have belief and value systems in consonance with the required culture are selected. However in educational institutions contract systems and laws and teacher and student rights, including pressure from the community, prove to be constraints. This leads institutions to get stuck in a trap in thinking that the organizational development and culture changes can be carried out easily. Normative and educative approach towards culture change requires lengthy periods and consistent efforts, virtually on a daily basis by leaders in such institutions. An effective way for education leaders to achieve normative and education changes is to deliberate consistently and to focus on the specific values, behaviour and fundamental assumption. In this regard, scholars have discussed the importance of using techniques of focusing on shared values and beliefs and motivation by using moral necessities (Leithwood, Jantzi, and Steinbeck, 1999). As part of the procedures, management should act rationally in repeatedly offering invitation to members to take part in the new cultures and be motivated to experiment with the new behavioural patterns in an environment that is not threatening and which acknowledges failures as being an integral part of the procedures. They must be empowered to assist in shaping the organization and its culture. In acting rationally, education leaders can improve the processes and assist in altering the organizational culture by discreetly citing meaningful stories and focusing on heroic actions of members that have exemplified strong values, beliefs and assumptions that are imperative in effecting the required changes. Such narrations are very effective as compared to instances of stakeholders that have acted against the required cultural norms of the organization. The story telling responsibility of education leaders has been aptly described by Deal (1993) whereby reference has been made to the informal networking practices of priests and story tellers in education settings. Amongst formal practices, a common approach to effect cultural change in educational institutions is to use the process of creation and modification of rituals and rites which focus upon and celebrate the important values and beliefs related to the desired outcomes for institutional improvement. In educational settings, the systems and subsystems that work most efficiently in affecting and influencing cultural change are rewards, information and communication systems, training, recruitment, selection and member orientations. The institution stands to considerably gain by way of its organizational structure and design which should be framed and executed in keeping with desired goals. In making formal statements of philosophy that address vision, goals, creeds and values, the educational institution can go a long way in meeting its objectives for achieving the desired organizational climate, behaviour, vision and culture in order to gainfully move into the coming future. List of References Deal T E, and Peterson K D, (1993). Strategies for building school cultures: Principals as symbolic leaders. In M. Shaskin & H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Educational leadership and school culture, McCutchan Publishing Company. Evans R, (2001). The human side of school change: Reform, resistance, and the real-life problems of innovation, Jossey-Bass. Hellriegel Don, Jackson Susan E, (2004). Management: A Competency-Based Approach, South- Western College Pub. Leithwood K, Jantzi D, and Steinback R, (1999). Changing leadership for changing times. Open University Press. Manning George, Curtis Kent, (2009). The Art of Leadership, McGraw Hill Higher Education. Revans, R. W. (1982). The Origin and Growth of Action Learning. Hunt, England: Chatwell-Bratt, Bickley. Woodman Richard. W, (2009). Research in Organizational Change and Development, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Read More