Leadership in Organizations - Literature review Example

Leadership in Organizations Part Personal Reflection Leadership has been one of the most crucial and dynamic concepts in the modern business environment. Without proper leadership, businesses would not be able to withstand competition that characterizes globally competitive settings (Yukl, G. (2010). I recently got insight into the critical significance of leadership during my recent internship at the holiday Inn. In my case, the individuals that I encountered while pursuing my internship at Holiday Inn have not only influenced my leadership skills, but also affected my thinking and definition of leadership and team work. As clearly stipulated by (Parker, 2008), teamwork and leadership forms the basis of success in an organization. From this experience, my paradigm of leadership has really evolved from their influence. In this paper, I will focus on my personal experience of leadership especially in Holiday Inn. I will also critically discuss my experience from the position of a leader quoting different concepts and theories of leadership. I was recently serving at the The Holiday Inn as an intern. The organization in my opinion is well structured especially in leadership, as well as, having well defined roles for every employee. Additionally, individual are very cohesive and work hand-in-hand to achieve the common goals and visions of the facility. As stated by (Bush, 2010), cohesion is the back bone of each and every working professionals. I also noticed that there is a well defined chain of protocol right from the leaders to the subordinates. The organization has a well established leadership culture. An organization’s leadership structure can only be maintained if the person in charge has the right leadership skills as stated by Matteson (2007, p. 11). It was also clear to me that the state of leadership in the establishment was well nurtured. During the internship period, I was given a supervisory role which automatically made me a leader. I headed a group of young waiters and waitress for two weeks and this made me realize a lot of things about ma as a leader. As a leader one is usually strict and in many cases people are sometimes mistaken for bossiness by the subordinates (Bush, 2010). Therefore, I made sure to be always in touch with my colleagues despite the leadership status. At first, it was extremely difficult for me to comprehend different steps that should be taken while handling people who are older than you. I can confidently say that I am not a seasoned leader but I have creative ideas that can improve such a team. During my period at Holiday Inn, I tried my best to be friendly to my colleagues although it was challenging since I was the one giving them directions and allocating them work. As a young leader, I had to make sure that I was task oriented. This means that I did not only give orders but also participated in completing tasks. My aim was to complete every job assigned to me and my group on time and made sure to go beyond what was oriented. In the morning before starting work, I made sure to call my group and organize basic guidelines of operations. The debriefing sessions were short and precise in order to save time. Cohesion was a one of the major aspects of leadership that I concentrated on. This is because, according to Parker (2008), a team is intertwined towards their objectives by enhancing cohesion. I discovered that it was extremely imperative for people to have a good relationship. This way; they will manage to complete tasks as a group and not individuals. It was clear to me that they were competitive and wanted to show me their levels of capability. However, this was dragging them behind especially in completing jobs on time. Therefore, bridging the gap between them was a major concern that I had to tackle. As a leader, I had to talk to them and explain the essence of building relationships. Thais way I was able to encourage them improve their skills and interaction models. With good relationship, they managed to complete work on time which was not only good for them but also for the organization at large. Participating in these work ventures also encourage me to be strong and build a relationship with my subordinates. I encouraged them to view me as one of them especially in giving ideas. Everybody was encouraged to provide any ideology that could make our work easier. After deliberation with them, we would pick the best idea and take part in it. These made my team members feel encouraged and important thus greatly improving their performance (Boynton and Fisher, 2005). The group I was heading comprised of people of different age groups. This was a huge challenge to me since I was the youngest amongst them. However, as a leader, I had to make sure that I apply the concept of “one-anothering” in order to make them understand that to be a leader one does not need to be old (Matteson, 2007). However it is the skills that one puts in the work that determines if one is a god leader but not their age. Therefore, I had to make sure that I played the part of encourager, burden bearer, as well as being a teacher to them. This means that I had to first of all understand every individual and at the same time know how to integrate their efforts in forming a team that has one vision. It was imperative that people should learn how to manage time as an individual but keep in mind that they were working as a group. This could only be achieved by making sure that the group completely understood their role. I therefore organized the group in a manner that will enhance their skills of his followers so as to achieve the set goals. Maintaining a good relationship with my subordinates also motivated them accordingly. From what I later found out from an older workmates, my methods were working and this encouraged them to work better and strive to achieve their goals (Lencioni, 2002). Compromising is also a major part that assisted in getting through to these individuals. As well aststed by Lencioni (2002), a leaders should be able to compromise in order to make sure that uality of work is maintained. I had to make sure that they understood that just because I help a supervisory position did not mean I was one of them. I had to make sure that they understood that at the end of the day we are workmates and nobody should be treated better than the other. Therefore, I formed a rotation program to be applied on all jobs. We could rotate positions every day and this made people understand that nobody was better than the other or deserved to work in a particular position. I made sure that there was no form of biasness that was detected from my part. Reflecting on my experience, I realize that there are several areas that I need to develop as a leader. I learnt that leadership skills are integral in ensuring that people understand their position. I was extremely challenging for me to deal with conflicts. It was obvious that the people I was leading were older than me and more experience in their work. In many cases, I was unable to handle conflicts because I did not know how to communicate with individuals that are older than me. However, it was my responsibility to make sure that if an individual working ability brought negative attitude to the work at hand, I was supposed to step up and caution them (Lencioni, 2002). Many people did not listen to me since I was younger than them and this made me extremely irritable. I realized that am supposed to develop courage and not caution people in front of each other. I had not learnt that people do not like being cautioned in public. It is my duty to make sure that when correcting an individual one feels completely comfortable and that they feel respected. Private conversation is the best way to deal with conflict and resolve issues as discussed in details by (Bush, 2010). I will also need to develop and improve my listening skills to be able to better make decisions and reach appropriate conclusions. Another area that I need to develop my skills as a leader is critical thinking. It is imperative as a leader to make sure that individuals understand all tasks assigned to them. Therefore, critical thinking will assist me in allocating and assigning employees’ tasks which they have proven to be adept at (Spears, 2010). This will be achieved by making sure that I take on extra project that are outside my job description. This will ensure that I take part in different jobs and the more I work the more I will develop better skills in allocating work. At the end of the day taking more responsibilities will enhance my learning skills which will consequently improve my critical thinking. Critical thinking will not only assist in job allocation, it will also assist me in decision making (Spears, 2010). Many individuals are afraid that if they take part in many job responsibilities they will be stressed. I will therefore, strive to develop better critical thinking skills by taking on more roles which will sharpen my skill to make appropriate decisions. I will also strive to analyze my strengths as well as weakness in order to better comprehend leadership. As a person I have feelings and perceptions that can hinder me from effectively making good leadership decisions. It is therefore, imperative to make sure that I develop a mechanism where I can deal with any problems that I have as a person and as a leader. This will a will become an all rounded leader that people will strive to follow and emulate. Part 2: Integrative Leadership Case Study As the new CEO hence top ranking executive at EEF, Tom Jones clearly faced a wide array of leadership challenges in his efforts to spearhead realization of the company’s goals. This case study analysis explores how the CEO applied various leadership skills and principles in the achievement of these goals. His weaknesses and strengths, within the context of leadership theory and concepts are also scrutinized, providing a basis for further improvement. When Tom joined EEF, he had to transform the standard approach of leadership, in an effort to match the changes associated with firm’s new status as a limited company, as opposed to a federation. While the company previously relied on distinctive leaders of various branches, Jones had to make do with a unified team. One of the primary considerations for effective team leadership is creation of an organizational culture characterized by cooperation of various departments and their respective workers (Boynton Fisher, 2005). Creation of such a corporate culture is not an easy task, especially in the case of companies where employees and departments at large are accustomed to working singly (Matteson, 2007, p.11). Jones was able to face this challenge head on since the start of his tenure as the CEO, first by having his own unified executive team. The senior team provided a proper foundation for guiding the rest of the organization towards a unified organizational culture. In the first step towards an amalgamated corporate culture, Jones set out to reform the divided sales team. The sales representatives were particularly skeptical about the new management approach, especially since they had to re-apply for jobs, as the new CEO sought to weed out redundant workers. Jones, therefore, had the difficult task of reassuring and motivating the new national sales team, in order to ensure that they recognized and embraced the new unified administration approach. The key leadership decisions made by the CEO at this point included selection of the most qualified sales candidates, appointment of a capable leader for the team, and reassuring the team members of their unique attributes and potential (). Through reassurance and motivation of the sales team, Jones managed to lay the foundation for implementation of the new vision, whereby the team was to foresee transition to a nationally oriented operation strategy. Having set the targets and the plans to accomplish, Tom Jones candidly shared his ideas with the members of both his senior and sales teams. This was an act of quality leadership, given the fact that an ideal leader always shares goals and visions with his followers, knowing that he cannot go all the way alone (Lencioni, 2002). He realized that he needed to influence his team, in order to achieve the common goals. Jones’ honest and naturally open management approach enabled him to apply a collaborative strategy in team formation and building, through sharing information and taking his followers’ experience and ideas into consideration. These principles point to the importance of open (preferably horizontal) communication, within a firm and particularly one that is trying to adapt to structural changes. According to Wang and Tung (2012, pp. 110-111), horizontal communication, which involves participation of all stakeholders in information sharing, feedback provision, and decision making, plays a significant role in bolstering people’s confidence. As a result, such communication fosters productivity of all partisans, since they feel that their input in the team is valuable and vital to achievement of corporate goals. In addition, open communication and collaborative mode of management adopted by Jones, promotes participation of involved parties thus aiding in swift and inclusive decision making. The latter aspects, in turn, will be instrumental in reinforcing EEF’s adaptation to the national-oriented transition. Another core duty of the CEO was to inspire the followers to actively take part in the activities that would lead to the attainment of the set targets and visions. As part of the aspiration, Tom Jones empowered the followers by providing them with the all the necessary tools and methods. These included the provision of the corporate credit cards for the business expenses and the sales patches (Wang, Chiang and Tung, 2012). These tools would help the team members to access the necessary services with the requisite convenience, to hasten execution of assigned duties hence meeting corporate goals and objectives. The credit cards and the business patches also facilitated the quick recognition of the sales person since the card bears the company name. The CEO’s actions exemplify measures utilized by management, as incentives meant to motivate employees, effectively improving their morale. Effective leadership entails motivation of the followers (Yukl, 2010). The upgrade of the CRM system was for the welfare of the followers. This step was taken with the main objective of evaluating the performance of the employees and rewarding the hardworking individuals. Tom recognized the need to share his glory with the followers who had been relentless in their efforts to achieve the sales targets. In order to maintain a series of successful objectives, the followers, who usually play the practical part of the goals, must be recognized and rewarded accordingly (Sinek, 2011). A selfless leader like Tom will not enjoy all the benefits of the business alone without sharing it with the colleagues. By establishing a reformed CRM, he wanted set an easy way to identify the very hardworking followers as well as rewarding the whole team. If he was a self-serving leader, he would take advantage of the hard work done by his followers and use it for his own promotion. In regard to leadership, therefore, the incentives recommended and authorized by Jones shows that he is a fair leader, who not only looks out for organizational interests, but also for the welfare of those under his authority. Tom has vividly distinguished a true leader from a boss by personally taking part in every step towards attainment of the targets. He did not just sit back and watch as a boss does while he orders the people around. He literally worked with them so that he could understand their best motivations and drivers. He was being practical; he did not want to get second information about his followers. The very practicality nature of Tom has been portrayed by taking part in the job and demonstrating to the followers how wants things done. As a result, Jones’ leadership cannot only be termed as participative, but transformational as well. This is because Jones engages with other leaders and employees in a manner that inspires them to strive to raise each other in terms of motivation and achievement of corporate objectives (Ireland and Hitt, 2005, p.63). The CEO’s participative and transformational leadership was demonstrated in his approach to dealing with the challenged posed by the membership-based nature of the company. The issue of giving free services to the members had been in conflict with the sales objectives and this situation was rising misunderstand among the employees (Sinek, 2011). To tackle this situation, Jones made the necessary effort to build trust and confidence between the management and the followers. He also made sure that the employees themselves had trust and confidence in each other, thus promoting continued collaboration in meeting company goals. From the case study, it quite evident that Tom Jones has fulfilled one of the comprehensive definitions of leadership which stipulates that the concept involves “inspiring others to follow your vision within the parameters that you have set, until it becomes a shared vision, a shared effort and a shared success” (Mielach, 2012). He has skillfully handled the primary objectives of leadership some of which include transforming organizational culture, fostering shared responsibility, inclusion of followers, advocating for productive change, and overall capacity building. As a leader, Jones has carried all the processes by appropriately applying his knowledge and unique leadership attributes such as integrity, communication competence, delegation ability, and ability to motivate others. These traits facilitated his depiction as an approachable leader with whom his followers could freely share their grievances (Yukl, 2010). Thus, his leadership skills and knowledge were influenced by his ethical attributes. A combination of knowledge, skills and positive attributes made him an adequately competent leader for the organization. Overall, Jones has attained significant success in gradually embedding cultural changes within mainstream operations of EEF. The CEO has also successfully built a team that is committed to working together to achieve company objectives. Even though there are issues concerning maintenance of exceptional performance in a business environment that is still in recovery, Jones is expected to continue succeeding as a leader given his commitment and ability to adapt to changing conditions (Spears, 2010). The CEO further recognizes the fact that there is still a chance for continued improvement, which is a vital characteristic of a good leader (Mischel, 1993, pp76). Judging from the case study, therefore, Tom Jones has executed a wide array of leadership principles as outlined hereunder. He was tactically proficient by being familiar with his job and the employees. He made timely and sound decisions that resulted in profitability of the organization. He was a role model to the employees- he led by example. He did not just sit and watch like a boss. He wanted to be change he had wanted to see. He had known his followers and worked towards their welfare through the integration of the CRM system. He had kept the workers informed of the progress made by the organization Through an effective communication, Tom had ensured that the objectives of the company are understood, performed and accomplished. By taking personally taking part in the activities of the organization, he ensured that the employees have obtained adequate training in their various lines of duty. Bibliography Boynton, A., & Fisher, B. (2005). Virtuoso teams: Lessons from teams that changed their collaboration. (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bush, T. (2010). Theories of Educational Leadership and Management. New York, NY: SAGE Publications. Ireland, R., and Hitt, M. 2005. Achieving and maintaining strategic competitiveness in the 21st century: The role of strategic leadership. Academy of Management Executive Journal, 19(4), p. 63. Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. Hoboken, NJ: John Hall. Matteson, M. (2007). Organizational Behavior and Management. New York, NY: McGraw. Pp. 11. Matteson, M. 2007. Organizational Behavior and Management. New York, NY: McGraw. pp. 11. Mielach, D. 2012. 10 Ways to Define Leadership. Business News Daily. [online]. 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