The Operationalisation of Management and Leadership Development into Practice - Coursework Example

The paper must present critical analysis throughout as done in the example paper (improve arguments, always conduct ‘for and against which what they suggest) Not enough critical analysis, Amend the paper so it doesn’t sound like you’re telling a story – The paper should be structured so that there are arguments then they are back by examples from organisations. Use the other essay provided as an example of how to structure. There doesn’t need to be much written to restructure, just reword some things so it doesn’t sound like a story, (more third person) Create a model that suggests that Leaders are Developed more than they are Born and apply this to the real life working environment. The model has been identified but not applied to organisations How do you demonstrate that your idea in part one will actually work in a real life environment? Would this be a universal model? (Refer to paper one) There is no indication of this model being universal, include at the beginning or the end Prove that it works. The model hasn’t been proven to work Show how it works and in relation to your literature? Not enough Demonstrate my model or concept could work in a variety of sectors e.g. public sector, commercial sector, or how it would work in different sizes of organisations, e.g small, medium and large Identified organisations but not applied the model the way they operate in leadership development Pick out the main points on the organisations (critical information) and that have relevance to if leaders are born or made and remove the rest of the material as it is descriptive and irrelevant, (This paper is only meant to be (2200 words max) The essay has some valid points on organisations – However, they need to be backed by theory and all related to whether leaders are born or developed and the suggested model in the introduction I have also highlighted some points below Investigate the Operationalisation of Management and Leadership Development into Practice, Based on the Key Ideas Identified in Part One Part one entailed exploring into the study of contemporary management and leadership development, focusing on the topic ‘Are Leaders Born or Developed over Time’. Apart from presenting an array of diverse literatures that reviewed both arguments, the outcome of the study indicated that no one is a natural born leader. The case studies now will be discussing on how these theories and practices are displayed in management and leadership styles in the real life working environment across various sectors. The model that would be applied is based on the theoretical framework that leaders are developed over time. Through the concurrent collaborative applications of both Adair (2003) and House (1971) who argued that leaders don’t have to be born but can develop leadership skills (Adair, 2003) and leaders set goals with employees and find paths, takes action, and develop one’s knowledge, skills and abilities as leaders (House, 1971) towards the achievement of organisational goals. Research by Giber (2009) has proved that if we tie leadership development to business strategy to the need of the business, it results in excellent organisational growth. The pressure to integrate leadership development activities and initiatives in the overall strategic objective of the business is the most important and overarching trend in recent history. Discussion Rolls Royce is a technology leader which employes 36,000 people assigned in offices, manufacturing and service facilities operating in 50 countries. The company has long history of employee development but currently they are reexamining their development strategy. In 2005, a review of talent management has been conducted, which until now, was being managed locally within business units. Currently, a new concept of talent management at global scale has been introduced (Jane Yarnall, 2008). Rolls Royce has realized the importance of talent management and that it should not be a standalone approach. Leaders can only emerge by identifying the potential talent at the grass root level and then nurtured and developed according to the organisational needs, concurrent with Adair’s (2003) theory, that leaders can be developed through experience in the organization coupled with training and supervisory guidance.The efforts which were previously done at the regional level needs to be coordinated and aligned with each other and with organisational objectives to maximize its effectiveness and broadening its horizon. The experience of Rolls Royce is similar to the case of the Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) which is a principal public utility located in the USA. Cistaro (2009) stated that they traced an evolution of organisational culture through grassroots leadership. Through the identified grassroots leadership and management support approach, PSE&G was able to successfully guide from a culture of high risk in health and safety of its personnel to an organisation with awareness and commitment to health and safety. The theoretical application of leaders being developed through organisational experience verifies that senior managers trained through years of experience are key leaders who have been trusted by the personnel. Using them as point persons to direct departments into the culture change process ensures that the people allow to be led by them. After reviewing the current policy of Rolls Royce and assessing its strengths and weaknesses, they charted out a number of steps for their global talent management program. A new stream of graduates was hired as trainee managers or the leadership graduates, developing a pool for future leadership. As this pool of candidate grew in experience and maturity, succession planning was successful. This program had a clear and predefined set of roles and expectations from the line managers, while at the same time, there was development of a human resource database, keeping in mind the global focus. Career development and progression plans were developed and communicated objectively to the employees, for assuring and ensuring no conflicts by being absolutely objective, alongside coaching and mentoring. This, in turn, assisted the business to focus on leadership development with a strategic eye for the future requirements10 (Jane Yarnall, 2008). The policy validates Rolls Royce commitment and sharing on the concept that leaders are developed through training and leadership programs. The experience demonstrated by James Burke, previous Chief Executive Officer of Johnson and Johnson (Harvard Business School, 2010, par. 10), proves that various leadership skills are developed through organisational involvement, agreeing with Adair’s (2003) model. During the Tylenol crisis “in 1982 after seven people died from taking capsules tainted with cyanide, (when it) has become the corporate blueprint for successfully handling brand blunders. The Johnson & Johnson brand addressed the problem imamediately, offering regrets and replacement bottles to consumers. The cost to the company was $100 million, but the brand quickly regained its trusted image” (Burkitt, 2010, par. 5)i. The adept skills on introspection and adherence to ethical standards and social responsibility equipped Burke with the exemplary perspective to address the serious dilemma. Only leaders who are aptly and holistically honed through exposure, involvement, commitment and training could apply the correct strategy at the given time. It was therefore recognized at Rolls Royce that born leaders are a rare commodity and cannot be found easily. Since there is no denial for the importance of leadership in driving the company towards the achievement of strategic, the company started its search for individuals with the potential for leadership at entry level so that they can be groomed, nurtured and developed to be transformed into leaders who can drive the company to success through all turbulent times (Jane Yarnall, 2008). This theory is revealed in the first step of talent management program developed by Rolls Royce i.e. the selection of a pool of new graduates known as leadership graduates. It was and is essential for the business to ensure that all these candidates had the potential of leadership that needed to some development, which would be provided by the business through training and right exposure. The application of the said phenomenon clearly illustrates that the leadership instincts can always be installed in human beings however, the presence of the roots is critical. The application fits with Adair’s (2003) model that leaders are honed through appropriate leadership trainings and programs. The opponents of this theory as suggested by 11(Robert J Allio, 2005) believe that the leadership training programs are not effective at all. He feels that leadership cannot be taught it is something which is natural and innate in a person. He feels that leadership programs only test an individual and strengthen their self esteem but will not instill any skill in them. He is a strong believer of the futility of the training programs and states that there is not much evidence available to endorse the importance or effectiveness of any training program or course in producing or developing leaders. However, one would argue that in the real world that this does not seem a very valid argument. According to Conger (1996)ii in his article entitled Can We Really Train Leadership?, the author’s two year study involving 150 participants revealed that although leadership training could indeed improve the skills and abilities of leaders, there is an ideal approach and method that must be strictly adhered to. As stated, the multi-tiered approach, in conjunction with “personal growth, skill-building, feedback, and conceptual awareness with follow-up training is the essential part” of a leadership development program. As mentioned by Conger (1996), the experience of Levi’s on leadership program attests that despite the objective of training values, which could be installed, the required changes in behavior does not necessarily follow: When Levi’s started its leadership training program, it learned a powerful lesson. You could train values but not necessarily produce changes in behavior. An initial survey of 2,673 people at headquarters showed that while employees understood and supported the company’s list of aspirations, they felt uncertain about whether other managers where walking the talk (Conger, 1996, p. 14). However, the success of the ‘Santander Group’ depicts a different story. It also strengthens views proposed by Kakabadse that any leader who does not believe in continuous development and adaptation cannot be a leader in the long run. Santander , despite its success looks for continuous improvement and plans to coordinate its leadership development activities at the global level in the wake of globalization (Jane Yarnall, 2008). This search for continuous improvement and adaptability to the changing environment has paid off in terms of its success in achieving its strategic global objectives. The leadership theory manifested by Santander is a combination of both transactional and transformational leadership. Santander has a well-defined succession planning which shows its commitment towards continued leadership development (Jane Yarnall, 2008). It has a well defined career path for each employee which is linked with employee’s performance. It acts as a form of reward, a give and take policy, as proposed by Karl Kuhnert and Phillip Lewis in their theory of transactional leadership. This theory is based on contingent reward and management by exception. At Santander, good performance and hard work is appreciated through career development because employee performance and training and development activities are interlinked (Jane Yarnall, 2008). This theory suggests that when potential leaders are properly motivated, through training and skill-building, leadership competencies and qualifications are enhanced. Transformational theory focuses on achieving goals by more than just communication. The same philosophy is followed at ‘Nisa Today’ where the approach towards leadership is functional. It believes that leaders will develop their skills inspired by other individuals. It involves charisma, vision, sense of mission, inspiration, high expectations, intellectual stimulations which promote intelligence. Nisa Today ensures it by giving personal attention, coaching and individual consideration through its mentoring program. A successful transformational leader possesses self confidence, dynamic personality, strong conviction and talent of motivating others. This type of leadership is value based; leaders lead by example and inspire others. Nisa Today ensures that each new employee works under the tutelage of a mentor (David Giber, 2009). This further enforces that with proper and direct supervisory guidance, mentorship adheres to the model of leaders being developed to transform them to future leaders with characteristics exuding charisma, vision, committed to the achievement of organizational goals. In another scenario, the transformational theory is manifested through the application of leadership by Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the successfull governor of California. Three of Schwarzenegger’s main leadership traits can be described as: charismatic, extrovert and confident. This fits in line with Martin Luther King’s theory that leadership is based on charisma and other personal traits of the individual considered as a leader. As it has been argued by Zenger (2002), if leadership is seen as a set of behavioral characteristics rather than a person, then leadership is something that can be taught or learned (Zenger, 2002). He employs both referent powers, which is based on his charisma. With referent power comes personal power due to his sources of potential influences. With leadership traits and through exuding influential power, Schwarzenegger has transform California into positive heights (Drehle, 2007). This fits in line with who’s theory suggesting leaders are developed, can this be applied in the model identified in the introduction. There is enough study available which proves the significance and contribution of mentoring in developing leaders (Adair, 2003). (Mostovicz, 2009) agrees to this and suggests the perception of success in the monitoring programs helps a lot in developing leaders that can successfully implement the strategic organizational planning. Eli Reiter (2008) verifies both arguments and suggests that through mentoring programs an employee gets the much needed direction and continuous feedback which is very important for the purpose and direction of mentoring process. It is very crucial for leadership development that management shows commitment to employee’s growth which is ensured at the Small Medium Enterprise ‘Optimum Oil’ through a well charted talent management program. It very comprehensively covers all aspects of leadership development through selection of the right candidates who have leadership potential, a well defined succession policy, training and development activities, a well defined career path and mentoring program (Levy, 2005). The management board at Optimum believes a good mentoring program not only helps in succession planning but also plays an important role in talent management and leadership development (David Giber, 2009). The approach that Optimum has adopted for leadership development is influenced by what (Pearce et al 2003) identified as “super leaders”. Super leaders are those individuals who inspire followers to identify their own leadership capacity and set targets for themselves. The enterprise gives its employees the opportunity of selecting their own career path. This theory is called protean career theory. It inculcates optimism in employees and enables leadership qualities to flourish. This, in turn, enforces the fact that leadership instincts can be developed in individuals. Going back to Rolls Royce, DeGeyter (2007) agrees with the way that the organisation is implementing its leadership development program. He argues that usually organisations do not fully understand and realize the importance of finding, training and developing leaders in their organisations. He also states that organizations refrain from such development programs because they are afraid once an employee is transformed into a leader the organization will lose him/ her along with all the investment they have made in the employee. It is a valid fear in most of the cases (Degeyter, 2007, Accessed 25.4.2011). This is a negative reinforcement but truly supports the argument. The argument clearly suggests that training and development leads to creation of leaders in an organisation. Rolls Royce is not afraid of taking this risk of making investment in its employees and developing them into leaders. From the strategic point of view it will benefit the organization in the long run in terms of satisfied employees, valuable leaders and a good image of the company which helps in attracting more talent (Jane Yarnall, 2008). According to Allio (2005), organizations these days very commonly ignore the leadership development responsibility of the organizations and employees are left to learn from their own mistakes through trial and error method. It shows that Rolls Royce is not following the norm and it has benefitted not only the organizations but all its employees in the sense that the organization has not left its employees to learn from mistakes but has designed the leadership development programs for appropriate career progression of the employees. There will always be differing opinions about the importance and utility of leadership development programs but the success of Rolls Royce has strengthened our view point that leaders are more made than born and organizations should seek to nurture and develop the potential of leadership in their employees for their strategic success (Jane Yarnall, 2008). The model that has been applied in the case of Rolls Royce attested the validity of the theoretical framework that leaders are developed over time. Through parallel experiences of other prominent organizations, the model’s potential to become a universal model is firmly entrenched. Organizations such as Toyota and Honda have developed Management Trainee and Management Associate programs that are responsible for hiring high caliber graduates from business schools who have the slightest symptoms of being a good future leader. Thereon, training and development sessions are provided and the best are given opportunities to move on with a predefined career path that leads to the top – that is succession planning and future leadership development (David Giber, 2009). Such and similar tactics applied by various businesses across the arena today signify the importance of leadership and leadership development in particular. Conclusion A critical analysis of these leadership theories revealed that leaders are more made than born. With little leader potential, nurturing and development one can blossom into a successful leader. Leadership theories such as transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and so on are clear illustrations about how leadership can be instinct amongst individuals. There is sufficient evidence from Small Large and Medium organisations to Private and public, to suggest that the training programs and leadership development activities carried out by committed, dedicated and super leaders are fairly successful in improving leadership skills. Successful leadership is actually a combination of natural traits and acquired talent. Organizations should actively seek for individuals with leadership potential and develop them through a well defined development strategy into leaders, instead of waiting for the born leaders, for the strategic success of the organisation. It is a widely known fact that one competitive advantage that cannot be replicated is human resources, and the same is responsible for creating leaders and managers in an organisation or business. The HR should, therefore, develop training and development sessions, seminars and other platforms that could allow leadership to blossom throughout the organisation in hope that leadership roots turn into solid trees, allowing organisations to grow immensely rather than being dependent on the top notch individuals, succession planning is critical. Bibliography 9(David Giber, Linkage Inc, 2009, Linkage Inc’s best practices in leadership development handbook, New York, Wiley Publications) iiiSimon, SI and Cistaro, PA2009. “Transforming Safety Culture.” Professional Safety. Pp. 28 – 35. 10(Jane Yarnall, 2008, Strategic Career Management: Developing your talent, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann) 11(Robert J Allio (2005), The Seven Faces of Leadership, New York Tata-McGraw Hill) 12(Eli Reiter, 2008, The development of a leadership mentoring system to enhance the advancement of protégés. USA, UMI) 13(Pearce, T. (2003) Leading Out Loud, USA, Jossey-Bass) 14(DeGeyter, S (2007), Four Simple Steps to Developing Leaders In Your Organization, EzineArticles.com, http://ezinearticles.com/?Four-Simple-Steps-to-Developing-Leaders-In-Your-Organization&id=612923, [Accessed 25th march 2011] Burkitt, L 2010. From Trusted To Busted: Brands Have A Credibility Crisis. [Online]. Availalble at : http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/25/toyota-tiger-consumer-faith-cmo-network-trusted-to-busted-brands.html [Accessed 12 May 2011]. Strategies for growth in SMEs: the role of information and information systems,  By Margi Lévy, (Mostovicz, 2009) Conger, R 1996.Can We Really Train Leadership? [Online]. Available at: http://europeanleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Can-We-Really-Train-Leadership-Conger-BAH-copia.pdf [Accessed 11 May 2011]. Read More