The Concept of Innovation Leadership - Essay Example

of Introduction The concept of innovation leadership is gaining momentum with the ever increasing progression in technology and idea generation. In other words, various industries employing innovative procedures and processes tend to incorporate high end leadership capacities as well to suit the needs of the changing market dynamics. In this context, the academia has varying views and theoretical paradigms over how a leader operating in such a scenario must operate and function. In this context, various researchers talks about leadership in the context of power and persuasion paradigms implying that the central qualities of a leader must drive towards convincing and persuading others (Williams, Miller &Tannen 2002). Similarly, others stress on how the power must transcend by virtue of leadership, implying that people relate to larger groups and thus, the art of leadership must be paralleled with the art of gauging the deep rooted insights of human responses (Harvard University 2005). However, in order to apply this strategy, it is imperative to build trusts and a dynamic interpersonal relationship with the people. Similarly, commenting on the need of innovative leaders, the academia also tends to differentiate between an ordinary leader and the one which tends to innovate, since innovative leadership doesn’t solely rely of a vision and leadership qualities; instead it tends to seek inspiration and drive these innovators towards positive direction to deem outputs (Yolderwise 2010). Therefore, a leader offer inspiration, motivation and even a dynamic personality for others to relate to and follow, with an innovation leader carrying even more elaborate responsibilities. Thus, there is need to explore various dimensions on the nature and functioning of innovative leadership. Literature Review As mentioned above as well, there are distinct leadership styles and leadership qualities which can be undertaken by a leader, and therefore may be understood from various lens. However, question arises on which approach may be accurate and appropriate for an innovation leader. In this context, various researchers have commented that such a leader may borrow concepts from various leadership styles to create a distinct style of his own to instill innovation and direction in the intended audience. Therefore, an innovative leader will employ distinct strategies to carve out a leadership style which then contributes towards producing creative and original ideas, services, products or solution Thus concept of innovation leadership was first put forth by Dr, Gliddon at Penn State University where he was elaborating on the competency based model of innovation leadership (Thomas, Paul & Cadle 2012). This concept entails that innovative leadership must employ a distinctive yet open approach to management and development where the mission may not be achieved in the most ordinary modes, and instead, the organizations or the leaders need to think progressively and innovatively. In other words, the leaders now need to focus on the outcomes in terms of creativity where organizational performance tend to take an incremental approach towards welcoming and encourage innovative patterns in thinking (Porter, Angle & Ellen 2003). However, application of leadership to enhance innovation isn`t the sole aspect of leadership to be explored. Dealing with certain change agents may fall under the domain of problem solving as well which calls for an effective leadership strategy and technique. In this context, certain theories of leadership may also add perspective to the topic at hand. For instance, the leader-member exchange theory focuses on the need for multiple types of leaderships styles incorporated in the leader of the organization in order to deal with complex situations (Dillard &Pfau 2002). This may also imply that distinct leadership style may be applies not just in varied situation but also for various kinds of subordinates. Therefore, this approach to leadership will not only contribute to management of conflicts but will also enhance job satisfaction amongst the employees and thus, the leadership goals will effectively be satisfied. In this context, it may also be added that research indicates that the quality of leader-member exchange tends to enhance the value of the task assigned since the factor of loyalty and trust will play an active role during these interactions. Therefore, the transformational leadership style or the transactional leadership style tends to add value to the organizational strategy depending on the situation and the nature of subordinates. For instance, transformational style would suit an organizational culture which values innovation and is operating in a dynamic space. Similarly, another theory, i.e. path goal theory may also be applied here which implies that the leadership style is contingent on the environmental patterns and also on the employee preferences where participative styles would be incorporated where creativity is encouraged (Osland 2007). Therefore, though open style of leadership is considered as the most effective one given the progression of the concept of innovation leadership, yet unless the environment is conductive to such influences, the leadership style i.e. participative and supportive leadership may also prove to be counterproductive. Discussion Therefore, organizational culture and the quality and nature of employees dominant in an organization shape the leadership styles distinctively. Though a few proponents also state that an effective leader can make the best of any situation and drive the subordinates towards any direction, yet this assumption may not stand true in all cases. In most of the cases, the organizational culture drives the leaders to take certain decisions to reap maximum benefits out of the situation. Therefore, in a bureaucratic setup where the subordinates are conditioned to follow rules and respect hierarchy and formalized rules of behavior, a transformational style of leadership will create chaos and confusion. Therefore, in a struggle to comply by the dominant school of thought and to follow those encouraging leadership, a leader must ensure that the quality and output is not being compromised. In other words, though the concept of leadership is used interchangeable with innovation and progression, yet in order to ensure that the leadership is complying by the administrative machinery, understanding the organizational culture is a must. Organizational culture incorporates not just the structural values, but also the belief system and the shared expectation of the human resource of the employees (House Business School Publishing Corporation 2007). Therefore, the organizational culture will definitely leave an impact of other aspect of the organization along with the output as well. Thus, it would be the job of the leader here to gauge the organizational culture and then amalgamate various leadership styles to achieve the set objectives. Conclusion Conclusively, various leadership styles are apparent in the literature available on effective and innovative leadership yet the academia is tilted towards the concept of innovation leadership. Innovation leadership suits the needs of changing market dynamics and engages distinct modes of leadership to suit the innovative environment and needs of the organization. In other words, an innovative leader is one which is fluent in many different leadership styles and thus takes up a leadership style most suited to the situation and one, which fit the organizational culture the most. In the organizational culture isn`t one which is conductive to progression and innovation, a leader may not drive the employees working in the organization to come up with creative concepts, products or ideas. Instead, the leader needs to assess the environment of the organization in order to design a leadership strategy which is in sync with the organizational culture. Therefore, for instance; an open style of leadership is considered as the most effective one given the progression of the concept of innovation leadership, yet unless the environment is conductive to such influences, the leadership style i.e. participative and supportive leadership may also prove to be counterproductive. Thus, organizational culture and the quality and nature of employees dominant in an organization shape the leadership styles distinctively. Though the leader may still add perspective and direction towards an incremental change, yet the leader may not completely negate the principles being dictated by the environment in order to ensure effective leadership. References Dillard, J. P., & Pfau, M. (2002). The persuasion handbook: Developments in theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Harvard Business School. (2005). Becoming an effective leader. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press. Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. (2007). Managing teams for high performance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Pub. Osland, J. (2007). The organizational behavior reader. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Porter, L. W., Angle, H. L., & Allen, R. W. (2003). Organizational influence processes. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe. Thomas, P., Paul, D., & Cadle, J. (2012). The Human Touch: Personal skills for professional success. Swindon: BCS Learning & Development Ltd. Williams, G. A., Miller, R. B., Tannen, D., & Cialdini, R. B. (2002). Tailor-made persuasion. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Pub. Yoder-Wise, P. S., & Kowalski, K. (2010). Leadership. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders. Read More