Leadership and Organizational Change - Essay Example

Businesses today face great challenges due to increased competition and shortened product life cycles (Sorenson, 2000). Under the circumstances the firms are faced with numerous threats executives normally rely on their past experiences and the underlying values to sort through the options. While profit is the guiding principle for the decisions that the executives make, it may not always be the right decision. This is when leadership can make an impact of the way the firm responds to the situation and the threats. This heightens the concept of different leadership approaches that are used in the organizations. Leadership has been defined as “natural and learned ability, skill and personal characteristics to conduct interpersonal relations, which influence people to take desired actions (Eric, n.d.). Thus effective leadership requires accomplishment and influencing. Leadership requires trust and commitment of others, which they can achieve through their own behavior and integrity. Leaders create and deal with change; leadership requires vision, direction, strategies, motivation and inspiring. According to Wolverton, Gmelch, Montez, and Nies (2001), leadership is the essential element that holds an organization together while moving it forward (RIG, 2005). The study of leadership has produced multiple perspectives because in different eras different thinkers and researchers have been discussing and writing about it. From the 19th century onwards two different approaches to leadership are found – the trait and the process. The trait theory attempts to identify the personal characteristics that explain why certain individuals succeed as leaders and others do not (Knes, 2006). It takes into account the personality of the leader. The trait approach presumes that a person is a born leader. Hence these innate personality or characteristics are an integral part of leadership. Research further suggested that a few traits were consistent in born leaders and these include intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. This theory had constraints and could not be applicable to the organizations as it assumes that those who do not possess these traits cannot be a good leader. It also presumes that it is not possible to train a leader. Besides, the leaders would tend to find people like themselves to be good leaders and would not look for characteristics beyond these. This theory fails to take into account the situational or environmental factors affecting leadership. This gave rise to the style approach of leadership in which the behavior of the leader is taken into account rather than the characteristics. The style approach views leadership as a process that occurs within the context of a group and is marked by influence and goal attainment. Leadership is hence a transactional event and interactive. It occurs between the leader and his followers and is not the result of the innate characteristics. The most effective style of leadership depends on the situation in which it is used. This is the situational approach and in this the leadership style Working Futures (2005) contends that the according to the situational requirements the leadership has to be demonstrated. Again, depending upon the situation, an individual can be a leader in one situation and the follower in another. This approach reinforces that fact that humans have needs and these vary across nations and the size of the companies. These needs impact the choices and how leaders make decisions. Hence leadership can be autocratic or democratic. A democratic style of leadership should be applied as it is people oriented rather than task oriented, the group goals are clearer and the members are better motivated. Autocratic leadership does not involve the participants and there is no sense of membership amongst the members. Some others argue that leadership cannot vest with an individual but should be collective. This is the contingency theory, closely related to the situational approach, where the factors external to the organization influence the situation. These include the type of task, the expectations of the followers and the task and interpersonal competence. The essence of the contingency theory is that different forms of organization and administrative leadership prove to be the most effective under different conditions (RIG, 2005). Contingency approach can either be task oriented or relationship oriented. Task behavior is associated with goal attainment while relationship behavior is synonymous with interpersonal relations. In this approach the leader’s personality and degree of situational control is important. Fiedlers contingency leadership model identifies the leadership style in given situations by using a questionnaire called the least preferred co-worker (LPC). According to Doyle and Smith (2001), people who can take control of a crisis are leaders and in practice they become the role models. They have a vision what can and should be done and they can communicate this to others. The contingency approach again can be directive, achievement-oriented, supportive or participative (Working Futures, 2005). The strength of a leader lies in his ability to inspire others to give their best. For instance, there is always a resistance to change in the face of environmental pressure and uncertainty when it is caused by the organization culture, says Schein (Lakomski, 2001). A leader plays a crucial role in such cases where he has to inspire them to understand and accept the vision or the corporate goals. The individuals have to be inspired to deal with the external and internal environment. The leader can transform the current stagnating culture into a productive culture. As a leader, it is important to bring together people of different views, backgrounds, culture, education, and still develop synergy as the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Participative leadership promotes understanding and cohesive teamwork, increases satisfaction, resolves conflicts and improves decision quality (Sorenson, 2000). This form of leadership provides a platform to view multiple perspectives and induces people to work with commitment and achieve satisfaction. Another approach that came up after the situational and the contingency approaches was the transactional approach. A leader was determined to be effective if he could enhance the group effectiveness. This gave rise to transformational and transactional leadership theories. Transformational leadership requires establishing one’s beliefs and values and being consistent with them (Working Futures, 2005). They have the ability to influence others and determine the course of change. M&A can have a demoralizing effect on the employees but Pollitt (2006) cites how Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries plc (W&DB) UK, overcame the initial imbalance due to the right leadership. When W&DB took over two breweries within 12 months, the synergy resulted in closure of two head-offices, one distribution centre and downsizing. The cost-dominated and hard-nosed attitude greatly affected the ‘survivors’. The staff morale was down as they felt that the company did not care for its employees. They felt the business was poorly run, training was not aimed at improving the performance of the employees and communication was inadequate. This situation requires more than just how to manage. To lead effectively in this situation would mean to inspire and win commitment (Goffee & Jones, 2004). This requires effective communication. The HR leadership understood that employees have to be taken into confidence. Transformational leadership helped to boost the morale of the employees and steer the company back to normal work. In transactional leadership, transaction or exchange takes place between leaders, colleagues, and followers (Working Futures, 2005). In this approach the exchange process is used to guide understanding of the followers and shape the action by reinforcing what the followers will receive or not receive. Transactional leadership involves setting things right for others and serves no purpose to planned change as the status quo may increase the restraining forces of the change. Of the two, transformational leadership has a long term focus and inspires others to act. The leader simplifies the process for the followers and empowers them to take responsibility while transactional leadership is more of coaching and task-centered. It has a short-term focus and is more of a bargain. Thus it can be evaluated that the trait theory is today’s circumstances is not practical as one has to move beyond the innate characteristics. To some extent the trait approach was modified by the behavior approach by taking into account the behavior of the people in leadership roles. The situational approach and the contingency theory brought about a major shift in the way the organizations started accepting responsibility for change. Environmental influences had an impact on how leaders reacted. Various other approaches were then accepted by organizations as it was felt that each individual had special characteristics and the approach could make a difference. Today companies understand that the same individual can be a leader is some situations and the follower in another. Leadership requires shared vision, the ability to encourage others to act and communicate with others. Transformational leadership is the most effective for today’s situation as it helps to raise the level of awareness and significance of the values and policies of the company. Individuals are empowered to take responsibility and leads to long term changes within the organization. Such leaders have confidence and can help raise the confidence of others. This approach also leads to conclude that leadership traits can be inculcated and need not be necessarily be innate. References: Doyle, M. E. & Smith, M. K. (2001). Classical leadership. Available from http://www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm; accessed 04 May 2008 Eric (n.d.). Leadership for Excellence. Available from http://eric.uoregon.edu/pdf/samples/SL/SL.intro.pdf; accessed 04 May 2008 RIG (2005). Major approaches to the study of leadership. Available from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Major+approaches+to+the+study+of+leadership-a0136071081; accessed 04 May 2008 Goffee, R. & Jones, G. (2004). What makes a leader? Business Strategy Review, Summer 2004 Vol. 15 Issue 2 Knes, M. (2006). LEADERSHIP. Available from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Kor-Man/Leadership.html; accessed 04 May 2008 Lakomski, G. (2001). Organizational change, leadership and learning: culture as cognitive process, The International Journal of Educational Management, 15/2 [2001] 68-77 Pollitt, D. (2006). Raise a glass to HR at Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries, Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 14 No. 1 2006, pp. 9-12 Sorenson, R. L. (2000). The Contribution of Leadership Style and Practices to Family and Business Success, FAMILY BUSINESS REVIEW, vol. XIII, no. 3, September 2000 Stansfield, R. (2006). Leadership Workbook, Available from http://www.oup.co.uk/pdf/bt/fincham/Chapter8.pdf; accessed 04 May 2008 Working Futures. (2005). Introduction to Excellence in management and leadership. Avaliable from http://www.marcbowles.com/sample_courses/frontline_v5/fma1/fma1c.htm; accessed 04 May 2008 Read More