Being Captain of the Ship of Diversity - Article Example

Being Captain of the Ship of Diversity Leadership has been a of interest for various groups for the longest time. Great leaders have been analyzed on the basis of their character and leadership styles. Many have gone to gain prominence in their respective fields and some have remained in the background while the groups they have led are celebrated for the extraordinary skill or action they have exemplified. Leadership may be defined as a “process in which a leader attempts to influence his or her followers to establish and accomplish a goal or goals.” (from http://www.answers.com/leadership#top). It may be as simple as coming up with a group decision or as complex as establishing a group culture. Leadership is a continuous process wherein a leader tries to move from accomplishing one goal to another for the good of the whole group. Another definition is “Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills” (Clark, 2008, para.3). In work environments, leadership may be distinguished from management. Leadership is giving the organization direction, having an overview, setting standards and making tough decisions while management is concerned with setting up and managing systems (Harris, 2003). Leadership is about development, vision and growth. Management is about attending to the status quo and ensuring that systems work” (Harris, 2003, p.5). However, in a work settings with diverse groups of people working together, leadership may be a challenge. A good leader has a clear vision of where he is going and sets directions to others towards that vision. He collaborates with other people regardless of their backgrounds on ways and means to reach their goals and not focus the authority on himself. In doing so, he empowers them to be confident in their abilities and motivates them to welcome challenges and opportunities. Because of his positive influence, he gains the respect of everyone to follow his lead while pursuing a common mission for the growth and development of the organisation (Leithwood & Riehl,2003). Top management is the most influential factor for such diverse workforce employees. It enacts policies which may make the task easier, as far as the employees are concerned. The hiring, recruiting and firing policies are devised in such a manner that there are absolutely no issues of ill-will or nepotism for the culturally diverse workforce. There is proper methodology in place and each and every employee who forms up as a part of the organizational philosophy knows beforehand what he can expect from such an organization in the long run and what he needs to give in, with respect to his inputs, training regimes and a host of other endeavors which he has to undertake on a consistent and proactive basis. A culturally diverse workplace is filled with positive energies and people know beforehand that they can expect encouragement when they are at their workplaces. This indeed is a very motivating feeling and one which can bring instant rewards as far as the organizational profits and environment building measures are concerned (Gibson, 2000). This current trend of the embracing of diversity has given birth to the concept of “the inclusive workplace”. Mor Barak (2000) defines it as one that: “values and uses individual and intergroup differences within its work force; cooperates with and contributes to its surrounding community; alleviates the needs of disadvantaged groups in its wider environment; and collaborates with individuals, groups, and organizations across national and cultural boundaries” (pp. 339-340). Creating an inclusive environment involves organisation culture and culture change (Young, 2007). It takes re-evaluation of long-held beliefs and practices to accommodate such change. For instance, power distance may intimidate some minority groups from being participatory in the organisation. In a typical hierarchal organisation, the dominant groups control the resources and hold the power to set rules. Organizational change shortens the power distance form the top to the bottom of the pyramid (Young, 2007). In essence, the advantages of a culturally diverse workplace in a global business world are manifold. The employees get to know each other better and thus experience the highs and lows of business whilst working hand in hand with one another. Cohen (1997) suggests that employees get to a negotiating state once they understand the domains of one another in an easy, free-flowing way. They also get acquainted with the working ethos whilst in line with the local market scenarios and the ever-changing global dynamics of things. There is a lot of learning going on behind the scenes and rest assured, the advantages easily outnumber the pitfalls. Then again, one needs to realize that the culturally diverse workplace depends tremendously on the shoulders of the leaders of the organisation and the policies which it enacts every now and so often. Much research has been devoted to the topic of leadership. Yukl (2006) presents a comprehensive collection of studies on leadership. Various approaches to leadership have been identified. One is the trait approach, which is premised on the belief that some people are born leaders, endowed with certain traits not possessed by other people. The behavior approach studies behaviors exhibited by leaders – their typical pattern of activities and how they manage it. The power-influence approach takes on a more leader-centered perspective in that power is used not only to manage subordinates but also to influence peers, superiors and even people outside the organisation. The situational approach sees leadership as affected by contextual factors such as characteristics of followers, nature of the work performed, type of organisation and the nature of the external environment. Finally, the integrative approach involves more than one type of leadership variable and incorporates other perspectives of leadership as well (Yukl, 2006). In the last US presidential election campaign, then candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama shared to the public what kinds of leadership they promised the nation should they be elected president. Clinton believes that the President’s role is not limited to providing visionary leadership outward from the Oval Office to the nation and the world but also to be hands-on in controlling and directing the federal bureaucracy downward to make sure that the policies agreed upon are implemented faithfully and effectively. On the other hand, Obama claims that his job as president is focusing completely on providing leadership vision, judgment and inspiration. He would prefer to delegate responsibilities to his cabinet members for controlling agencies that report directly to him. Of course, he would be supervisory in management and hold agency heads fully accountable for their performance of the bureaucracies under their authority. O’Toole (2008) compares the two leaders calling Clinton’s leadership style “managerial” and Obama’s leadership style “transformational”. He leans towards Obama’s approach to leadership because when he believed that successful transformations have occurred due to leaders who “offer inspiring visions and values, identify clear goals, and then provide the context and opportunity for those below them to participate in the design and implementation of the actual business of change” (para.10). He claims that leaders of large corporations have adopted a values-based, decentralized approach to organizational transformation. This makes the leader’s subordinates empowered to be entrusted much in terms of responsibility of change implementation and the leader to focus more on the vision and fulfillment of goals. Blake and Mouton (1985) have come up with a grid to analyze various kinds of leaders based on their positions on two axes: the “concern for people” axis and the “concern for task” axis. From this grid, four types of leaders were identified. The Authoritarian leader scores high on task but low on relationship with people. He is driven to accomplish tasks regardless of how it affects his subordinates and there is little or no allowance for cooperation and collaboration. This type of leader is strict with schedule, expect people to blindly follow his orders, with no questions asked. When things do not go as he has planned, he has the tendency to find blame in others rather than focus on what went wrong and investigate its cause and prevention in the future. Just like an autocratic leader, he is intolerant of dissent to his ideas that is why it is difficult for subordinates to contribute and express their own ideas to the group. The Team Leader scores high on task and high on relationships and is considered ideal as a leader. He leads by positive example and works hard to foster a team environment in which all members can contribute to the success of the group while maximizing their own potentials both as team members and as people. Motivation is high in teams with such leaders and become very productive. The Country Club Leader scores low on task and high on relationships. He predominantly uses rewards in maintaining discipline and in pushing the team to achieve its goals. Since he can be too concerned in pleasing people, he would find it difficult to implement punitive measures on members who deserve it when they are inefficient in some tasks. This inability is due to a fear of jeopardizing relationships with such team members. The Impoverished Leader scores low on task and low on relationships. This is considered the worst type of leader because of his inefficiency. He uses a “delegate and disappear” management style. Parallel to the Laissez-faire leader, he allows the team to do whatever it wants and do not show commitment to either task accomplishment nor maintenance of harmonious relationships within the group (Blake & Mouton, 1985). Blake and Mouton (1985) recognize that the Team Leader is the most successful type of leadership, however, they also justify the value of the other three types. There are certain situations which may call for one of the other three. By playing the impoverished leader, the team is challenged to gain self-reliance. With an authoritarian leader, a sense of discipline is instilled especially in unmotivated members. A country club leader is great for members whose self-esteem suffers because of the “feel-good” strategies this leader employs. A good leader would know how to discern which type of leadership he will use in particular situations in order to achieve the best results. Blake and Mouton’s leadership grid is very sensible in classifying leaders in whatever environment. A leader needs to objectively reflect which grid he falls under and work towards which type of leadership is best suited for the group he works with. In a research reported by French, Simpson and Harvey (2001), a good leader is also equipped with ‘negative capability’. “The underpinning image of leadership is based on knowing and is manifested through activity, work and achievement. There is, however, another dimension of leadership, based on not knowing and on being no longer in control of one’s own situation (French, Simpson & Harvey, 2001). This construct can be interpreted as being humble enough to admit when one doesn’t really know instead of putting up a façade of being all-knowing. This also means that a good leader is always open to learning something new, and not haughty enough to claim that he is already “made”. Being human and fallible is one trait that all members of the group share, and what better quality to relate to than that? Group members will even feel important enough to share the burden of thinking up solutions to problems with their leader. However, the risk of this, in a diverse work environment, may be losing credibility with those who don’t share the same sentiment. Some may expect perfection from a leader and others may appreciate humanity. It is now up to the leader to discern how to handle such a conflict. Clark (2008) discusses a study reported by Lamb and McKee (2004) that concludes that the most important keys to effective leadership are trust and confidence as well as effective communication. Having trust and confidence in a capable leader was shown to be a reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organisation. These employees are assured that they are in good hands and that there are safely on a journey aboard a tight ship run by an efficient captain. Such trust and confidence are won with effective communication prevalent in the organisation. This is shown in three critical areas. One is in the area of helping employees understand the organisation’s overall strategies. Another is in helping employees understand how they can contribute in meeting the organizational goals and objectives. The last area where effective communication must take place is in sharing information with employees how their group is performing in relation to the organizational objectives. Finally, Kouzes and Posner (1987) explain the processes on how great leaders can shine even more. They advise leaders to challenge the process and improve on the areas in the process that needs it. Leaders are also recommended to inspire vision that can be easily understood by their followers. Leaders are also enablers. They must be good at encouraging people to act on their own by providing them with the tools and methods to solve their problems. It also cannot be said often enough that leaders have to be good models, most especially when the going gets tough. They should exhibit an attitude and behavior of positivism that his followers can emulate. Lastly, leaders should encourage their followers’ hearts while keeping their pains within their own. Global trends point to the formation of inclusive organizations that welcome people from all walks of life to contribute their ideas, talents and efforts to the pursuit of organizational goals. It may be a challenge to sustain such a diverse organisation, but if people learn to accept, respect and appreciate others no matter how different they are, then it is a huge step to achieving the elusive harmony in a totally diverse environment. Of course, one key to its success is an efficient and effective leader who knows how to emphasize commonalities in people rather than their differences. References Blake, R. R. and Mouton, J. S. (1985). The Managerial Grid III: The Key to Leadership Excellence. Houston: Gulf Publishing Co. Clark, D. (2008) Concepts of Leadership in Hutter, A.D. (1982) Poetry in psychoanalysis: Hopkins, Rosetti, Winnicott. International Review of Psycho- Analysis 9, 303-16. http://nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html Cohen, R. (1997) Negotiating across Cultures: International Communication in an Independent World. Institute of Peace Press, Washington DC French, R., Simpson, P. & Harvey, C. (2001), ‘Negative capability’: the key to creative leadership. Presented at the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations 2001 Symposium. Retrieved on March 17, 2009 from www.sba.oakland.edu/ispso/html/2001Symposium/french.htm Gibson, R. (2000) Intercultural Business Communication. Oxford University Press Harris, A. (2003) Teachers’ perspectives on effective school leadership. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, Vol. 9, No. 1. Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (1987). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lamb, L. F., McKee, K. B. (2004). Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Routledge U.S. Army Handbook (1973). Military Leadership. Leadership. Retrieved on March18, 2009 from: http://www.answers.com/leadership#top Liethwood, K.A. & Riehl, C. (2003) What We Know About Successful School Leadership. NCSL. Mor Barak, M. E. (2000) “The Inclusive Workplace: An Ecosystems Approach to Diversity Management”, Social Work, Vol. 45, No. 4 O’Toole, J. (2008) Obama vs. Clinton: Leadership Styles. Viewpoint, Retrieved on March 19, 2009 from http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2008/ca2008028_331189_page_2.htm Young, C. (2007) “Organization Culture Change: The Bottom Line of Diversity” The Diversity Factor, Winter 2007/ The Changing Currency of Diversity Volume 15, Number 1 Yukl, G. (2006) Leadership in Organizations. Prentice-Hall Read More