Educational Leadership and Management - Essay Example

LEADERSHIP al Affiliation LEADERSHIP Leadership has become an important aspect of group development due to the complexity of group dynamics. Irrespective of how small the group might be, handling it may be a challenge in the absence of strong leadership skills. The group 19 leaders exhibited high leadership qualities that contributed to the achievement of the group and ability to deliver the expected goals. The role of the group leader was to organize, coordinate and maintain the group to ensure that every person optimumly contributed to the achievements of the groups. Also, essential leadership was crucial in ensuring that the group established a positive relationship with the client and that the two worked harmoniously throughout the period. Moreover, every member of the group was required to exhibit leadership skills to ensure that they are responsible of decision making when the need arises even in the absence of the leader. Leadership prayed an important role in the group development stage to ensure that the group was strongly formed and that conflicts arising within the groups were handled promptly. The purpose of this essay is to establish the value of leadership within a team and the challenges that come along when developing a strong team. Apart from this, it will identify key lessons that can be learnt from the the group experience. In the first meeting, group 19 selected a group leader that would coordinate all the activities of research process. Since it was anticipated that the task would take long and a number of issues could arise, there was need to select a leader who would guide the others through the project. One issue that emerged while selecting the leader is how leaders are selected and how this may affect a project. Leadership theories provide a ground through which peers can learn and adopt effective leadership models that they can apply in their area of jurisdiction. A number of theories advance the idea that leaders are born and that they cannot be made. The great man leadership theory suggests that leadership traits are inherent and that leaders are born with leadership qualities (Winkler, 2010). This seems to refer to the traditional system of leadership where the first born of a King was supposed to inherit the kingdom. The traditional believe was that strong kings could only give rise to strong heirs. The idea behind this theory is that traits such as brave, confidence and boldness can be passed from one generation to the next. However, inheritance of leadership is something that does not exist in the contemporary society. Here, the leader was selected through a democratic process after three members of the groups volunteered to become group leaders. Democracy in leadership gives privilege to every person to vie for leadership. As such, each person must be able to have leadership qualities to fill in leadership positions and to serve the people effectively. From a keen look, to some extent, it is clear that personal qualities are essential for leadership. For instance, there are people who are naturally born social, and are able associate with others in an easy way. In the selection stage, the leader who garned a lot of support was brave, confident and displayed high level of problem solving. To this effect, the group was bound to benefit from a fair, and wise selection of a leader. Leaders have the role to guide, direct, control and unite the people in undertaking the development plans. In a typical social environment, leaders are involved in developing the organization goals and objectives that are meant to drive the organization to success. The same way, the group 19 leader was expected to establish the group’s main goals and to develop strategies through which to accomplish them. However, as leadership theories suggest, leaders require the cooperation of those under them so as to succeed in the practical aspects of the projects. In organizations, the employee commitment and loyalty are crucial aspects of the work force that determine the work output and the profitability of the organization. These factors determine how well the predetermined objectives are implemented and how accurately they meet the specified outcomes. Thus, the leader was tasked with the role of communicating the project plans, maintain group members’ royalty and commitment during the implementation phase (Bush, 2011). This is one of tehn successfactors that helped group 19 to remain strong and to cooperate with their leader. The group leader involved each member in the design of the project activities, and communicated all the strategies that would be used during the process. Also, the leaders have a duty to enhance the relationship between the group members to maintain strong team work in a diverse environment. Different personalities, attitudes and behavior make it a challenge to unite group members, demanding strong approaches to ensure that everyone remains cohesive and oriented towards the main goals. Therefore, leaders have a great challenge within the work environment and this can only be overcome through strong leadership qualities (Northouse, 2010). Group 19 was formed from different people, with different backgrounds, personality and attitudes. Therefore, at some point, it was obvious that conflicts of interest may arise, which would hinder the implementation of the project. As theories suggest, the second stage of group development is marred by the urge to compete, jealousy and other forms of conflict. Group 19 was not an exception case, as conflicts set in the second stage of the team formation process. However, the leader was prompt to discover the issue and quickly responded by providing a listening year to each member, which helped to pay attention to the needs of every person. Treating each team member fairly reduced conflicts and the group was set to proceed with other activities. Therefore, since team conflict is inevitable, it is crucial to respond as quick as possible to prevent the negative impacts of such group conflicts. In any group, the behaviors of the leaders seem to determine their success in handling the diverse needs of the employees. As behavioral theories suggest, the leaders’ interaction with those under their jurisdiction determines the way they respond to the work instructions. For instance, if a leader listens to those under them as they present their suggestions, it is possible for them also to listen to the issues raised by the leaders. A patronizing leader is likely to be rejected by their followers, undermining team performance within the organization. Thus, the wrong leadership behavior results to failure of the leader in controlling the employees’ behavior. A wide range of research shows that behavioral approaches are critical within the work environment. For instance, the leaders must be able to understand the worker qualities and attitudes to ensure that they are able to handle them. The issues of culture, race, beliefs and personal attitudes determine the behavior of employees (Duffey, Fox & State Educational Technology Directors Association, 2012). Within group 19, the ability of the leader to understand the team members can be linked to the success of the group. Since all the members were from the same class and had interacted before this experience, it was easy to establish friendship essential in creating harmony among the group. As behavioral theories of leadership suggests, the behavior of the team leader contributed to positive contribution by the members. Leadership practice did not only focus on the team members but also on the client, who was an important stakeholders in the project. Just like the customers determine the success of the organization, the success of the group was dependent on its ability to satisfy the client. In a competitive business environment, winning client’s loyalty becomes an important factor for the organization. Winning the client’s loyalty depends on the ability of the group leader to provide effective customer service by communicating efficiently, taking client feedback and maintaining strong social relationships. Customers prefer to acquire products from businesses that provide effective customer service and where they can contribute to the development of the products. Therefore, leaders need to learn how to interact with the clients (Pihlak & Alas, 2012). To do this, they need to understand the customer behavior and to find strategies to satisfy this behavior. The success of the group can be directly related to ability to co-work with the client at all stages to ensure that the client provided adequate feedback that would crucial in achieving a successful research. The group leaders was in close contact with the client either to notify themof the progress or any issues that may affect the project. This made the work easier as the leader had all the information the group needed throughout the process. In the technological era, it is crucial that leaders learn to integrate technology in their leadership skills. Technology has become a crucial tool in the modern work environment, and organizations are shifting towards this direction to inject efficiency into their organizations (Lim, Stratopoulos, & Wirjanto, 2013). For instance, leaders are using internet technology as a communication tool within the work environment. As soon as group 19 selected a leader, he formed a Whatsapp group, through the group could communicate, discuss and share their ideas. Technological platforms such as Whatsapp require a good understanding of internet technology to ensure that the communication is efficient and messages can be rapidly passed through the group without convening physical meetings. Therefore, learners are challenged with the task of acquiring computer and internet technology skills if they have to succeed in their leadership career. As organizations attempt to integrate technology within the learning environment, it is personal responsibility for the learners to acquire these skills to ensure that they are ready to fit in the changing work environment (Cakir, 2012). The success of the learners in the future leadership career will depend on their efforts to improve and to conform to the changing demands of the work environment. The leader of group 19 seemed to confide in transformational leadership to bring the group members together and create value in delivering the needs of the client. Transformational leadership is a contemporary concept that refers to modern leadership style that centres on the leader and their follower’s interactions. It refers to a type of leadership that accounts for value, relationship, motives, ethics and standards that influence the way a leader or a manager interacts with the followers. Transformational leadership focuses on a wide range of mechanisms to achieve the organizational goals. It considers both the follower and leader characteristics that influence the way they handle their roles (Lussier and Christopher, 2010). The main focus of the leaders in this case is to win loyalty of their followers by satisfying their physical and emotional needs. The leaders achieve this by understanding the needs of the follower and developing strategies to achieve them. This is the most common form of leadership concept that applies today in many organizations. For an organization to do well, they have to satisfy the employees by providing them with satisfying salaries, healthy working conditions and opportunities to grow. In turn, the leaders benefit by having loyal employees who have a long term association with the organization, which is crucial if a leader has to accomplish their goals. On this note, transformational leadership is integrative and is based on mutual benefit of both the leader and the follower. Many modern economists advocate for this form of leadership as it is satisfying and provides a good ground for goals implementation. In group 19, transformational leadership was evident during the meetings as the leader paid attention to the needs of each member. For instance, one day the group had to reschedule its activities to accomondate the request of one member who was having a busy schedule during the day. An important lesson is that leaders must be conscious of their members to ensure that they work hand in hand to deliver the long-term goals. The use of power within the group came as important factor within group 19. At first, the group leader was unable to assign duties to the members because he feared that this may result to conflict as some members may find their tasks harder than others. Therefore, he allowed each member to pick a task that they could handle to minimize conflict. However, this became a weakness for the group when two members or more insisted on one task and some tasks remain unassigned. This became a big challenge as the leader was incapable of assigning some tasks that were presumed to be difficult. As leadership theories point out, there are different types of power and power is essential to delegate tasks. Positional power is the power that one possesses from the virtue of the rank that they hold within an organization. On the other hand, personal power emanates from internal personal behavior. While positional power is obtained from the top-level management and delegated down the ranks of the hierarchy, personal power is internal and is related to the way one conducts themselves (Northouse, 2010). The leadership theories make a distinction between the two forms of power and suggest that a leader should have personal power to serve well within an organization. Personal power is manifested in problem solving attitudes, social behaviors and wisdom, which are the qualities of a charismatic leader. From this perspective, it was essential for the leader to have positional as well as personal power. This would be crucial to ensure that it is possible to delegate duties efficiently, something that should be considered in the next group task. In future group formations, it may be crucial to focus on the best leadership power that can streamline group performance. The five forms of power theory by Raven and French points out to five different forms of power. The first form of power is the legitimate power that emanates from the belief that a person has the absolute right to control others and to have them obey his rules. The second form of power is reward power, which results from ones abilities to compensate the other for compliance. The expert power based on a person’s superior skill and knowledge, while coercive power is dependent on the person’s ability to compel another to comply with their demands. Lastly, the referent power is the power that comes from one’s ability to attract respect from others. The theorists show a close link between expert, referent and personal power within an organization. The legitimate, coercive and reward power are much similar to the positional power (Rhode, 2006). On this ground, it is recommendable that one possesses both personal and positional power to be able to authorize and at the same time obtain respect from rthe group members. In terms of research approaches, the research was strongly influence by the selection of a diverse sample that provided adequate information for the purpose of the research. Theory points out that the selection of the sample population is crucial to ensure that at the end of the research there is enough information from which conclusions can be made. Secondly, the possession of strong analysis skills was crucial in ensuring that the research was successful and satisfied the client’s demands (Creswell & Clark, 2007). Since the group members had learnt on then value for information analysis, this step was easy, and required little time to implement. As the group leader suggested, this process was conducted keenly and given adequate time due to its pivotal role in this stage. The analysis process provided a point from which conclusions could be made and used to design recommendations. However, the information collection procedures provided a lot of challenges as some information obtained was subjective. Such information may introduce subjectivity into the final project report, which may make it unreliable. In future, it would be crucial to avoid such information to ensure that the research remains reliable. Focusing on objective data would be a milestone in ensuring success. In conclusion, leadership within a group is virtue that depends not only on personal traits but also the ability of the person to learn and develop their leadership skills. The success of the group can be directly related to ability to democratically select a rational leader. Unlike the traits and the great man theories that suggest that leaders are naturally born, it is clear that inborn mental qualities are not necessarily adequate in leading in complex work environments. The demands of leadership are increasing and the populations characteristic are changing consistently. This is making it a big challenge for leaders as they have to conform to the new demands of leadership. The behavioral theories seem more reasonable in providing that leadership qualities can be developed by acquiring the right skills and qualities, which was evident within the group. Dynamic leadership strategies helped to satisfy the needs of both the clients and the group members. For learners who are aspiring to be leaders in their career, they need to acquire the right skills from their learning environment. Group discussions, role models and leadership classes all are potential places that learners can acquire leadership traits. In addition, they should consider advancing their education by undertaking leadership programs that provide more specialized education. Efficient methods of sampling and analysis were crucial in ensuring that the research provided crucial recommendations. Bibliography Bush, T. 2011, Theories of educational leadership and management. London: SAGE. Cakir, R. 2012, Technology Integration and Technology Leadership in Schools as Learning Organizations. Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology - TOJET, 11(4), 273-282. Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. P. 2007, Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Duffey, D. R., Fox, C., & State Educational Technology Directors Association, 2012, National Educational Technology Trends: 2012. State Leadership Empowers Educators, Transforms Teaching and Learning. State Educational Technology Directors Association, Lim, J., Stratopoulos, T. C., & Wirjanto, T. S. 2013, Sustainability of a Firms Reputation for Information Technology Capability: The Role of Senior IT Executives. 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