What Are Key Leadership Practices for Todays Businesses - Assignment Example

Leadership What are key leadership practices for today’s businesses? Workforce needs recognition and planning is an important leadership practice for today’s business. The modern business environment is a complicated work environment, owing to the fact that the needs of the workforce and the stakeholders to the organization has continued to become more diverse, with increased technological advancement and access to information. Thus, aligning the needs of the workforce with the organizational mission and objectives is a fundamental leadership practice that enhances modern business success (Roe, 307). The workforce has emerged as the most important factor of production in the contemporary business environment. This requires that the leadership of the organization does not only plan for the current employee’s needs, but also focus on workforce needs analysis and forecasting, which prepares the business for the future needs of its workforce (DuBrin, 307). This is an important leadership practice for modern business, which lowers the level of employee turnover and poaching, thus saving the business on the costs associated with regular recruitment and training of the new workforce. Embracing and reinforcing diversity is another key leadership competency necessary for the modern business success (DuBrin, 377). The concept of globalization has brought with it the issue of workplace diversity, where the current nature of the workforce is completely different from the characteristics of the workforce a century ago. Thus, embracing and reinforcing diversity is an essential leadership competency of the 21st century, which enables businesses to tap on the different talents of a diverse workforce, and thus manage to create a more productive business environment (Roe, 304). Diversity is not only an issue of having different races or ethnicities within the workforce, but also an issue of incorporating gender balance, different age group combinations as well as different religions and political philosophies. The concept of diversity is associated with the ability of the leadership to incorporate and manage multiple points of view, while at the same time keeping the existing differences as part of workplace enrichment (DuBrin, 306). Demonstrating flexibility and empathy forms another crucial leadership competency for today’s business. The days for top-down inflexible and bureaucratic leadership are long gone, and in its place flexible and empathetic leadership installed (Roe, 312). Consequently, the modern-day business leaders must be flexible in their leadership styles, most especially through accepting and incorporating the views of the workforce, regardless of whether the contributor is a subordinate. The modern day business has become very competitive, such that gathering business information that can enhance the competitiveness of the business is paramount. Thus, it no longer matters what the source of business information could be, but the value of such information to the success of the business (Roe, 304). A sense of empathy is also essential, since it allows the leaders to experience the situation of the workforce, and consequently make decisions that are holistically informed. This leadership practice allows the workforce to thrive both as individuals and contributors to business success. Key strengths The major strength that I possess, which is key to successful leadership is positive attitude. Motivation is an essential factor for workforce success, which must be driven from inside the person, and also complemented through external stimulation (Morgan, n.p.). Thus, a positive attitude is an essential success factor for leadership, since it enables a leader to keep the right perspective and motivation even amidst challenges. The attitude manifested by a leader has a major bearing on the attitude that the followers will adapt (Davies, 42). Therefore, through the leader being able to keep the right attitude and a high level of motivation for the completion and achievement of the set business objectives, it becomes easier for the workforce to follow. In this respect, my positive attitude characteristic is essential for leadership. An example of my positive attitude characteristic is the way I have managed to pull through different challenges in life that could have deterred me from pursuing my education, but I have managed to overcome them through keeping the right attitude and motivation. Liberality is another of my strength in leadership. Liberality is a concept that allows an individual to apply open-mindedness while approaching an issue, such that one is not limited for options (Davies, 47). I highly value liberality, and believe that it is essential for every voice to be heard and also incorporated in the process of decision-making. Liberality is a leadership concept that does not entail the traditional leadership role of controlling the workforce but rather the concept of employee empowerment, where the leader empowers the workforce to succeed in their area, and thus the whole organization eventually succeeds. The fact that I have had opportunities to lead through different group discussions in class and manage to incorporate the ideas and voice of every group member is an example that portrays my liberality trait. Areas for development in leadership Communication skills is an area that I require development, in order to be able to develop the right competency. Communication is the fundamental success factor for every leadership, since it matters how the leader delivers the intended message to the employees within an organization or to the group that the leader is in charge (Morgan, n.p.). While I am well able to communicate eloquently in driving the necessary point home, I need to build on the idea organizing skills, which are vital in determining how the ideas are received and understood by the audience. Effective organization of ideas allows communication to flow, and this makes it possible for the target audience to buy-in the ideas easily (Davies, 44). The communication emanates from the fact that I have the tendency of overindulgence and high attention to details, which then results in a very lengthy communication. The lengthy communication might hinder the ability of the audience to grasp the most important message of the communication. What alternative perspectives could add to the quality of your self-assessment at this stage? Lack of real workplace leadership experience is an alternative that enhances the quality of self-assessment done that far. Real work experience is an important perspective, since it gives an individual the true interpersonal experience, while also keeping the individual in touch with the workplace dynamism that influences the process of decision-making. Therefore, gaining real workplace leadership experience could add to the quality of my self-assessment. This is because, the assessment of the strengths that I hold such as liberality has been based on a shallow experience with the fellow students in classwork. The fact that I have led a group of students and managed to demonstrate the liberality aspect might be totally different in a real work environment leadership situation. This is because, it is essential for a leader to be flexible and also firm at the same time, so that the leader can adapt the diversionary perspectives of the workforce, but still retain the ultimate decision-making power (Wistrom, n.p.). Therefore, there is a likelihood that leadership in a real work environment could influence my liberality perspective differently, such that I would be forced to be more firm than liberal, in order to ensure that the workforce is disciplined and obedient to the workplace rules and policies. Task specification is yet another perspective that can add value to the self-assessment done that far. The nature of leadership style adapted is largely determined by the tasks or the description of the duties and responsibilities associated with the leader (Qualman, 7). In this respect the fact that the self-assessment is generalized on the personal characters is in itself defective, since the nature of decision-making is dependent on the prevailing circumstances. Considering the fact that the self-assessment does not follow any specific task description or even any particular situation, its accuracy may be doubtful. For example, the self-assessment has established positive attitude as one of the major strengths appropriate to leadership competency. However, while positive attitude may be a suitable leadership competency, it may not prevail under all circumstances, thus making this personal character less applicable as a strength in leadership. The presence of the actual circumstances or the exact definition of the tasks is necessary for an accurate personal evaluation. The absence of the actual responsibilities, job description or task specification may result in the overestimation of the individual leadership capabilities ((Morgan, n.p.). The area of interest is another perspective that could add to the quality of self-assessment. While evaluating the individual capabilities in leadership, the area of interest is a major factor, since a leader is highly effective in the area of best interest (Qualman, 12). Therefore, the leadership effectiveness on an individual in a field that is different from the area of interest is lower, compared to the effectiveness of the leadership in the area of interest. The fact that the self-assessment was done under generalized circumstances where the area of interest was not a factor. This simply means that the leadership competencies determined could have been overestimated. What are the key leadership development challenges you would like to focus on over your undergraduate program? Why? The major leadership challenges that I would like to focus on include handing unfamiliar responsibilities. Unfamiliar responsibilities most often create some leadership problems, owing to the fact that effective leadership is highly demonstrated in the area of major interest of the leader (Wistrom, n.p.). Therefore, dealing with unfamiliar leadership responsibilities requires that the leader must develop the capacity to handle new responsibilities. Considering that I have certain qualities that are essential for leadership, paying attention to the tactics and methodologies of dealing with the unfamiliar responsibilities will be necessary. This will be a preparation ground for handling future leadership responsibilities that might arise in areas that I am not familiar with. Leadership responsibilities entails carrying both the performers and the non-performers, which creates a big challenge for the leader (Wistrom, n.p.). Therefore, a leader can only be able to balance the performers and the non-performers in an area of familiarity and competence, requiring that more leadership skills be developed to handle areas of low competence. Therefore, developing such skills will be a major area of focus. Managing change is another area of leadership development challenges that I would like to focus on in the course of the program. Leadership and management of change are two concepts that remains almost inseparable (Wistrom, n.p.). This is because, a leader must address be innovative and creative enough to think beyond the obvious in creating solutions to certain challenges that introduces change into the organization. Therefore, the tactics and methodologies of managing change is an area that I would like to focus on deeply, since change is inevitable in whichever leadership responsibility an individual holds. Developing the tactics of managing change is a ground for preparing for future management responsibilities, which are uncertain. How will you try to address these challenges? I will try to address these challenges through learning all the available techniques and methodologies of dealing with new changes and unfamiliar responsibilities. The challenge of dealing with unfamiliar responsibilities will be addressed through constantly exposing myself to new areas of responsibility where I can take a leadership role, so that I can learn the techniques of handling unfamiliar responsibilities through personal experience. On the other hand, the challenge of managing change will be addressed through studying how the leaders of organizations that have succeeded to transform into successful entities throughout history have been managing change. How will you critically monitor your own progress? I will monitor my progress in addressing the leadership development challenges through constantly assessing my communication skills, especially regarding the mode of brief and lean message communication, through participating in leadership discussion groups and communicating my contributions effectively. The other benchmark for monitoring my progress will be through evaluating how I deal with challenging situations that would require leadership initiatives. This will indicate how I am fairing in addressing unfamiliar leadership responsibilities. The nature of transition through various aspect of the undergraduate program such as transitioning from one course to the other and through different academic requirements for different years, will indicate my progress in managing change. Works Cited Davies, Adrian. Best Practice in Corporate Governance: Building Reputation and Sustainable Success. Aldershot, Hants, England: Gower Pub, 2005. 42-79. Print. DuBrin, Andrew J. Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. 372-289. Print. Qualman, Erik. Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. Morgan, Jacob. “5 Must-Have Qualities Of The Modern Manager”. Forbes Magazine, July 23, 2013. Web. December 13, 2014. < http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2013/07/23/5-must-have-qualities-of-the-modern-manager/> Roe, Kevin. Leadership: Practice and Perspectives. , 2014. 304-336. Print. Wistrom, Elizabeth. “Challenges of Leadership Development”. Bright Hub, December 31, 2010. Web. December 13, 2014. < http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/articles/82140.aspx> Read More