Leadership and Empowerment - Assignment Example

Leadership and Empowerment Provide an explanation of the term leadership, and outline how it can influence organizational performance. Leadershipplays a very pivotal role in outlining the organizational needs and requirements. If the leadership is not sound and does not believe in taking quick decisions, there is little doubt that the organization can find itself under enormous pressure on a constant basis. The organizations of today look up to sound leadership regimes in place so that the organizational undertakings could be tackled in a very pragmatic fashion. If the leadership tenet seems missing, there is much cause for trouble within the organizational folds. In essence, leadership takes all the decisions which are important for the long term well-being of the organization, enacts measures and directives which will take care of the issues which outline organizational performance as well as proactively concerns it with undertakings related with organizational growth and development. The leadership perspective derives its basis from having an adequate room to maneuver the strengths that lie within the organizational domains. Without a leader who could steadfastly and proactively take decisions on a consistent basis, there are problems which the leader can envisage for the organization under question and the managerial levels can also witness serious problems to arise every now and so often. The organizations of today are very serious about their leadership since they know that having leaders of repute would mean half the job done. Those personalities are given a chance to be the leaders who command immense respect amongst the subordinates as well as within the competitors. Those who have a knack of careful lobbying within the related industrial levels are given a much better place within the organization than others. All these tasks outline the importance of properly looking after the organizational performance regimes, which in essence would suggest that the organizations work in a very cohesive fashion and bring out solid results for the stakeholders, the customers as well as its internal publics. A sound leader can provide the much needed confidence that is required by the organization in times of organizational problems and distress. This leader knows essentially the exact manner through which he can sail his way through the tides that come his way (Storey, 2004). The top management thus needs to appoint leaders who can inspire others, motivate the employees into giving in their very best as well as provide them the resources so that they could extract rich rewards for the organizational sake at the end. This indeed would mean success towards organizational performance. 2. Identify the leadership styles that you would consider to be helpful in differentiating between an effective organization and managerial misfortune. Support your answer by outlining the reasons for your choice of leadership styles. There are quite a few leadership styles that have usually been touched upon by the organizational gurus. These remain tried and tested, with some of these proving to be instant hits within the organizational realms. However not all of them could mean success and attainment of tasks as far as a singular organization is concerned. A combination of these leadership styles could mean that the organization is ready and willing to experiment, and thus manifest its truest basis through action and activity. A clear cut strategy is required, more so when the leadership styles are being studied. This would prove to be essential because these leadership styles document the exact manner in which objectives could be outlined for the sake of an organization and goals could be achieved. An effective organization needs delegative leadership style as it demands of the leader to delegate the work as and when it comes. This however does not mean that the leader delegates his own work as well. An effective organization looks to give the work to the employees who are at home with the required tasks and activities. This will ensure success to reign in supreme at the very end and the organization will gain quite a lot in terms of its goals and objectives. Authoritarian leadership style will manifest oneness of actions and the strategy will be devised in such a manner that this sole leader will take all the credit for the same. However this kind of leadership style is usually successful when there are serious issues within the organizational folds and these problems need only an authoritative leader to solve the anomalies present within the organization. An effective organization requires a mix – little of delegative leadership style and a bit of the authoritarian one. This will ensure success to arrive in a fairly better capacity than envisaged in the past, by the top management. The reason for choosing a mix of the two leadership styles lies in the fact that organizations of today recruit different kinds of people, who essentially hail from diverse settings (Goldsmith, 2001). Thus any singular mode of leadership style would not suit the whole organizational domains and it is best to have the finer tenets of different leadership styles. This will mean success for the organization in the long run as well as managerial misfortune would not come within the bounds of the organization in entirety. A proactive vision as concerns to the leadership style is what is deemed as most quintessential under such organizational realms in the time and age of today. 3. Identify two well-known leaders you are aware of and detail the special attributes that contribute to their success. The two well-known leaders who have had outstanding success within the organizational domains remain Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. The reason for choosing these two reputable men is that they have exhibited success with sheer hard work and commitment towards not only their own selves but also to their employees, who for them remain the most significant players under their leadership realms. Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft, hailed as one of the richest men on planet earth. He has changed the way computing was seen in the earlier parts of 1980s. He has given the personal computer users a vision which has no parallels whatsoever. As concerns to his leadership style, he managed the people under him in a very forthright manner, so much so that he gave them the power to create and be expressive about the very same. He did not require his employees to remain within the four walled offices and undertake work processes. What he required was adherence to one’s work ethos, no matter where he/she carried out the job under question (Hyde, 2000). Without Bill Gates, Microsoft would never have become such a huge organization. Bill Gates had a vision to outperform his compatriots and he did so by being blunt about his dealings, proactive in his approach and an eye for the foreseeable future. He encouraged individuals to rise above their personalities and depict creative tangents which have never been touched upon by the people in the past. This is the reason why Microsoft’s products have been such a huge success with the masses and this will continue to be the case in the years to come. Bill Gates has had phenomenal success as a leader and the business world meticulously sees him in the same vein. There are a number of lessons that one can learn from him all said and done. Another well-known business leader of repute is Steve Jobs. Much similar to Bill Gates, Jobs has been a fanatic of creativity ever since he founded Apple Inc. Apple is indeed the brainchild of Steve Jobs. He is known to be the person who hires people based on their talent levels. Once he finds someone talented enough to adopt the reigns of Apple, he perseveres with them and gives them the chance to demonstrate their mettle, time and time again. It has been made apparent through different news reports and stories that Steve Jobs’ leadership style is aggressive and he is seen as one of the most demanding personalities within the world of business in the present times Since he is dedicated wholly and solely towards the success regimes of Apple, he has gone out of his way to suggest what success means for him at the end of the day (Author Unknown, 2005). He has shown maturity within his decisions and stuck on to them no matter how trying the times have turned out to be at the end. This has meant that Steve Jobs has given priority to the decisions that he has taken within his leadership role at Apple and has commanded respect from all and sundry in more ways than one. One of the attributes that remain very close to Jobs’ heart is that of achievement and success. He gives in his very best on a consistent basis and he demands the very same from the people who work under him. Due to his steadfast nature and proactive attitude, Apple has seen its business grow in an exponential fashion, and that too quite rapidly. 4. Jack Welch, former CEO at General Electrics, believes that a major part of a leader’s time should be spent developing executive talent. His record at creating leaders was stunning (Robbins S P {2000} Managing Today 2nd edition p 446). Describe the keys to his success. Jack Welch was Chairman and CEO of General Electric between the years 1981 and 2001. Jack Welch understood what business acumen and talent was all about and due to these reasons, he is rightly judged as the very best when it comes to drawing the significant basis for developing executive talent and similar forms of strengths which comes part and parcel with the same. Jack Welch has gained immense recognition and fame due to his management expertise and talent and the manner in which he is known to all and sundry is nothing short of amazement. His solid reputation has been developed over a period of time because he has focused on building the core competencies of people and that too on a very consistent note. He is known to the world due to his strengths, his repertoire for understanding what it takes to having a sound and proper business concern and how to go about hiring the very best for achieving objectives, goals, the mission and the vision philosophies of an organization. The reason that he became famous worldwide lies in his understanding of deploying talent to maximal use as well as in incorporating the right attitude as far as leadership domains are concerned. He is famous because he let his work do all the talking. General Electric gained quite a lot under the reigns of Jack Welch and due to his vision, General Electric remains indebted to the success that was achieved within his tenure as the Chairman and CEO for a period of two decades. Understanding and making use of executive talent for the sake of a business are two entirely different propositions and luckily on the part of Jack Welch, he comprehended the two of these with utmost ease and a sense of vision and foresight coming to his rescue. He paid special attention to the abilities that distinguished people from one another and hence success touched his feet in the end (Strohmeier, 1998). Jack Welch would not have been such a visionary leader had he not made use of his inborn talent – to identify executive talent and develop the same for the sake of different organizations all over the world. His students are spread the world over and they credit Jack Welch for his visionary thinking and foresight. It is true that a leader of Jack Welch’s stature would not have achieved so much if he was himself not given a chance to exploit his strengths. The resources that were made available to him during his work regimes at General Electric worked wonders for him. Thus the attributes that are linked with Jack Welch suggest that his success depended a great deal on his talent and thus the reason that he derived talent in others so that organizations could benefit from such individuals. The fact that he created so many leaders suggests the fact that he had an eye to spot talented individuals and this essentially underlines the most basic reason as to why Jack Welch made it to the very top. The fact that he sustained his success for a period of two decades further justifies the talent that he possessed within his personality regimes. Hence the keys to his success remain perseverance, an eye for spotting talent, making use of his strengths, looking for opportunities and talented individuals, understanding the organizational philosophies and drafting his own set agenda for the very same. All said and done, Jack Welch is a name to reckon with within the business realms and there is more than adequate rationale for the very same. References Author Unknown. (2005). Jobs Isnt the Apple of Everybodys Eye. The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland), December 6 Goldsmith, M. (2001). The Leadership Investment: How the Worlds Best Organizations Gain Strategic Advantage through Leadership Development. AMACOM Hyde, A. (2000). If There Must Be One, Let It Be Bill Gates. The Public Manager, Vol. 29 Storey, J. (2004). Leadership in Organizations: Current Issues and Key Trends. Routledge Strohmeier, B. (1998). The Leadership Principles Used by Jack Welch as He Re-energized, Revolutionized, and Reshaped General Electric. Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol. 5 Word Count: 2,135 Read More