Crucibles of Leadership by Bennis & Thomas - Essay Example

?Midterm Paper BACKGROUND & CONTEXT This thesis aims at reflecting upon my learning and understanding of leadership from the article d “Crucibles of Leadership” by Bennis & Thomas that reflects the transformation of people’s mindset in accordance with transformative events. It has often been argued that leaders are not born with extra ordinaries qualities within them, they find meanings and learn from the most negative events. This particular notion acts beneath the explanations given by Bennis & Thomas in their article titled “Crucibles of Leadership”. Theoretically, leadership is explained as a process of influencing the society in which one can procure the assistance and the support of others in the procedure of accomplishing the desired outcomes through the common tasks. In simple words, leadership is all about the leaders those who mobilize others to get the job accomplished within the organization. It reflects the practices of the leaders which they perform to transform the values into the actions, the vision of the organization into realities, the obstacles within the work into the innovations and the risk factors into the rewards. As demonstrated by Bennis & Thomas (2013) in this context, it is the leadership that creates an atmosphere where the employees face the challenge and turn the challenging situations or the opportunities into the remarkable success. Initially, I used to perceive that leadership is all about steering people towards the determined goals. But, after going through the ‘crucibles’, I realized that I had actually mistaken between management and leadership at the theoretical level where managers are bestowed with the responsibility to direct their staff through negative and positive motivations towards predetermined goals in the short run, but leaders pursue greater responsibilities towards the sustenance of the team focusing on shared values fundamentally focusing upon the long run performances of the overall team. Being motivated by the context of Bennis & Thomas, I went through various leadership case studies, where various organizational, political as well as social leaders were assessed on the basis of their leadership qualities and the corresponding achievements. In most instances, especially when reading about the modern day organizational leaders, I found that they attempt to find logical solutions to the problems encountered within the organization. The controlling power and the directing power possessed by these leaders have been further observed to reward them with a height in their achievements which has also been addressed in the discussion of Bennis & Thomas. According to my learning, intellectual analytical skills are quite essential for leaders to perform in the increasingly competitive environment of the 21st century wherein Bennis & Thomas reveals that leadership concepts and approaches have changed over the past few decades. This is when I realized that leadership is not at all an easy task and I needed to develop my skills immensely to reach the level already benchmarked by these leaders. In accordance with the above scenario a drastic change came to my perception not only regarding my competencies as a leader but also regarding my approach towards life. This particular experience or learning exposed the underneath values and beliefs related to the leadership qualities and theories that were inherited in my mind. The article by Bennis & Thomas focuses on the leadership practices in automotive industry which has recently been witnessed strong effects from economic downturn and high degree of fluctuations in the customer buying behavior within the worldwide context. Presenting an interesting scenario, the authors successfully draws the attention of the readers about leadership that such skills can be developed through regular life experiences as well. In fact, learning and developing leadership skills through experiences has been argued as a more effective procedure or rather the most essential quality of an effective leader as argued in the ‘crucibles’ by Bennis & Thomas. This again changed my another perception regarding leadership, wherein I used to believe that leadership is an in born quality being rewarded to few selected people in the world and cannot be developed by average human beings like me. However, the evidences and the understandings that I could obtained from the study assisted me in understanding that leadership qualities can be developed through regular experiences which makes it an unending process of self-evaluation and self-improvement as well as continuous learning. It is now that I understand well why leaders with more experiences are valued more in any industry or in the political as well as in the social stances. Undoubtedly, the reading helped me to gain a new direction in my professional life with higher confidence eradicating almost all my skepticism regarding my abilities as a leader. IMPACT OF THE EVENT UPON THE SET VALUES AND BELIEFS According to the aforesaid event, I observed a significant transformation taking place regarding my inherited values and the beliefs. I used to belief that a person acquires the leadership quality by birth. The power to coordinate, to direct, to initiate and to influence emerges as born qualities within an individual. Therefore, as per such an underpinning, I presumed that even if I could develop myself as a good manager, I shall never be able to groom myself as an effective leader. Evidently, in accordance with the situation the set notion or belief of mine changed owing to which I was able to gain a higher level of confidence and motivation regarding my future endeavors and development. The experience undoubtedly changed my value regarding leaders with the illustration as narrated in the ‘crucibles’ by Bennis & Thomas that they are very similar to any other normal people who have been able to develop their ability to influence others and direct them towards the accomplishment of a common goal in a tactical manner (Bennis & Thomas, “Crucibles of Leadership”). As per the understanding that I was able to obtain from the experience, the leadership skills consist of the four important characteristic’s that enable prospective leaders to learn from the negative events. The engagement of others to find solutions to the prevailing situations reflects one of the characteristics of the leadership skills. This particular understanding added to be earlier perceived values that leaders are the ones who take decisions while the rest follows those decisions being true to their leader. However, as my experience, I now believe that true followers are those who share the same vision as that pursued by their leader and inculcate their ideas as well in the achievement of their leader’s target rather than just merely following the leader’s decisions. This also helps to develop the leadership qualities of the followers, hence increasing the effectiveness and responsibilities of the leaders. Another important characteristic of an effective leader that I was able to learn from the experience was the role of distinctive influential approach or skills acquired by the leaders. Distinctive influential approach reflects the capability of the leader to influence the team with regard to the accomplishment of the common objectives. A successful leader thinks accordingly by the application of the proverb, “putting oneself on other’s shoes”. Thinking according to a pertaining situation reflects the capability to face the challenges in the adverse situation. The adaptability with the adverse situation reflects the leader’s capability to deal with the tough or critical situation that ultimately results in the accomplishment of the desired goals (Bennis & Thomas, “Crucibles of Leadership”). With this new value achieved, I focused on reassessing the roles of leaders and other people about whom we read and learn at often instances. Indeed, previously when I also used to criticize many of the strategies adopted by these leaders, when I imagined myself in that position and analyzed the alternatives I would have in such circumstances, I was able to understand that I would also have done the same. Even in my regular engagement in the society, I tend to imagine myself in the position of the other person, mostly my friends and subordinates prior to dictate them any suggestion regarding their problems. Thus, with the changed perceptions, beliefs and values, I believe I have already started to groom myself in the endless process of effective leadership. ASSUMPTIONS WITH REGARD TO LEADERSHIP – EITHER CHALLENGED OR REINFORCED As mentioned above, previously I was confused between the concepts of leadership and management. I also had the belief that leaders are born with inherited qualities, i.e. the son or daughter of a great leader is supposed to have inherited qualities of effected leadership from their birth. My values and beliefs on this ground were challenged in the ‘crucibles’ by Bennis & Thomas. Through this experience I was able to learn that leaders need to be aware of their missions. They must be well acquainted with the organizational objectives and goals. The responsibility of the leader is also to provide a clear and a descriptive view with regard to the organizational objectives in front of the team and the employees working within the organizations rather than merely use them as puppets to get the work done as mostly observed in the context of managerial qualities. Hence, it is quintessential that the vision of the leaders must comply with the organizational objectives. The leader working within the company must know the desire of the organization to fulfill the job role of directing the employees towards the determined goals evaluating both the short run and long run effects of such alterations which makes the leadership approach a much complex and challenging task than management either by objectives or by principles. The vision of the organizations must be of abstract form so that it encourages the employees to imagine the goal and the benefit that they will derive with the achievement of the organizational benefits (Bennis & Thomas, “Crucibles of Leadership”). To be precise, my view points were challenges on the grounds that leaders are very much similar to any other normal human being and are not born with inherited qualities but need to develop such qualities through education and experiences. Notably, Bennis & Thomas explains regarding few examples which apparently dictate few principles which can be used to develop the leadership qualities within an individual. For instance, effective leaders tend to obtain their learning from regular experiences where they opt for taking measures by initially positioning them in the circumstance of the other person. As depicted by the authors, in most instances, negative experiences render the scope for immense development amid leaders to develop their capabilities (Bennis & Thomas, “Crucibles of Leadership”). As per the key learning that I was able to obtain through the study, in practical there exist a few executives who possess all the skills as well as the abilities that are necessary for the executives to demonstrate the total mastery of all the areas operational within the organization or the socio-economic setting. I also learnt that it is the responsibility of the leader to establish and assemble an effective as well as an efficient team to manage the areas that are weak and needed intellectual assistance. An effective leader, in the modern day phenomenon, always aspires to assemble the team of competent, credential and experienced employees which can overcome any adverse situation in accordance with the skills set by the leader. In practical not a single person is competent in all the fields thus it is necessary for the leader to identify his/her deficiencies as a leader and if needed to learn from the subordinates and also through regular life experiences and thereby develop himself/herself as per the demand of the situation and priority of the team as a whole. I also understood that leaders must be patient and do away with their egotism when making decisions giving the needs, aspirations and objectives of the team superior priority than that of his own. APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP REFLECTING THE IMPACT OF THE CRUCIBLE EVENT Obtaining a better in-depth knowledge regarding leadership from the ‘crucibles’, I can affirm that there exist various approaches that help the leaders or that must be possesses by the leaders to maintain the team effectively and efficiently. For instance, the power-influence approach reflects the level of power that the leader withholds to influence the mass or the team. A leader therefore must be powerful enough to manage the team effectively. He/she must also be capable of providing a clear picture to the followers with respect to the overall objectives, keeping his personal likings and egotism as secondary to the team aspirations and achievements. It is in this context that the influencing capability and the competency of a leader reflect the effectiveness of the team under the adverse situation which apparently separates leadership from management (Manolis & Et. Al. “Leadership: a New Frontier in Conservation Science”). The traits and skills of a leader reflect the strengths that drive the team members in achieving the common objectives. The inherited traits such as adaptability, assertiveness, self-confidence, tolerance of stress, achievement oriented attitudinal traits, decisive and cooperative behaviors among other characteristics help the leader to become more competent than others and also differentiate them from the managers in the current day context (Lunenburg “Leadership versus Management: A Key Distinction—At Least in Theory”). STRENGTHS AND SKILLS OF A LEADER REFLECTED BY THE OCCURRENCE OF THE EVENT There are various strengths and the skills that dwell within a leader helps in the accomplishment of the organizational objectives by directing the employees and the team. The performance of the team and the employees hereby depend upon the skills of their leader by a substantial extent. For instance, as revealed in the ‘crucibles’ by Bennis & Thomas, a competent leader can overcome adverse situation by executing the strategies effectively with the help of the team generating shared values and aspiring higher degree of commitment from them driving them towards the accomplishment of organizational goals where the objective of the team happens to be more significant than that of the individual members. A leader must thereby hold high level of intelligence either acquired through inherent qualities or through experiences during the years of service at the authoritative level or as an employee or follower and even from the regular real life experiences. It is also quite necessary that a leader possesses a clear vision regarding the set objectives with an unambiguous understanding of the business objectives and goals so that the leader can explain the employees and the team about the organizational objectives and the common goals through shared vision (Lunenburg “Leadership versus Management: A Key Distinction—At Least in Theory”). A leader must incorporate within him the skill of creativity as well to motivate the team towards performing with increasing efforts and continuously aspire to develop his/her skills along with that of his/her subordinates’ to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall team for the achievement and accomplishment of the common objectives established. Additionally, it is worth mentioning in this regard that the intellectual skills possessed by leaders often act as a key success factor to the organized management of the employees and the team. Effective communication between the leader and the team leads to the achievement of the expected goal. A leader must therefore be competent enough to communicate the objectives and the common goals of the organization to the employees (Lunenburg “Leadership versus Management: A Key Distinction—At Least in Theory”). SUMMARY From my learning through the ‘crucibles’, I was able to understand that leadership is the process by which a person tactfully and intellectually handles the situation prevailing within a particular setting. A leader must hence possess intelligence which would help him/her to rise above others. The employees, the stakeholders and the higher officials as well as top level management expect the cooperation and diplomatic as well as intellectual solution to the prevailing situations from an effective leader. It is in this context that a leader must be adaptable with respect to the flexible situation. I was also able to observe that the capability and the competency of a leader to act and take decisions according to the demand of the situation reflect the power of the leader to handle a team effectively. It is quite essential in this context that a leader must have a clear understanding of the organizational goals and objectives. The communication of these goals and objectives must also be effective enough to help the leader towards controlling and managing the team effectively and efficiently in the accomplishment of the organizational goals. It is worth mentioning in this context that an effective and efficient communication between the management and the employees reflect the execution of the business plans and the objectives efficiently which must be developed on a continuous basis and cannot be inherited completely from birth. Works Cited Bennis, Warren G. & Thomas, Robert J. “Crucibles of Leadership”. Harvard Business Review (2013): 1-9. Print. Lunenburg, Fred C. “Leadership versus Management: A Key Distinction—At Least in Theory”. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration 14.1 (2011): 1-4. Manolis, Jim C. & Et. Al. “Leadership: a New Frontier in Conservation Science”. Conservation Biology 23.4 (2008): 879–886. Print. Read More