Strategic Leadership Concept - Coursework Example

Strategic leadership Student name Institution of Affiliation Introduction There are different beliefs that have been created in regard to leadership. Some believe that leaders are born while others believe that leaders are made/created. However, it has increasingly been agreed that for a person to be a good leader then he has to have knowledge, experience, patience, commitment, and negotiation skills. Another important virtue that he must have is the ability to work with others and deliver the organizational goals. Due to the above values that should be contained within a leader then it is important to note that good leaders are created and they are not born since this are virtue that one learns as he/she grows up. To ensure that a given organization or a give person has got good leadership then the following need to be done continuously ; educating, self-studying, continuous training and continuous acquiring of relevant experience in leadership (Bass & Bass, 2008). According to Boulding (1956), he observes the importance of the general transdisciplinary theory of human, knowledge, organizational behavior and social. He further observed that good leadership starts with an individual having a strong character and having self-will to the activities that are being undertaken in an organization (Jenkins, 2013). When looking leadership from the perspective of those who are employees in an organization, then leadership can be said to be everything that is undertaken by them to ensure that the achievement of the set goals. Also, for leadership to be effective and employees to perform better the wellbeing of each and every person within an organization must be taken care of (Abbasialiya, 2010). In any organization having the element of trustworthiness is key in ensuring that those who take the leadership positions are effective. It is important for all human beings to have trust between one another as its fundamental in what they are undertaking. Leadership in human groups, businesses, in education sectors, military organizations, religious groups, government and other international organizations will always need trust to ensure effective operations (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2007; Lamb & McKee, 2004). When one is in leadership it comes with responsibilities that are aimed at ensuring that given operations and achievements are reached with the available resources and ensuring that the organization is coherent and cohesive in its operations (Ololube, 2013). Rowe (2007) and Northouse (2007) have observed that leadership is all about the ability of being able to influence a group of people to come together and work towards achieving one goal. Therefore for any organization to succeed in its goals then it is necessary that effective leadership is very necessary as it will ensure smooth running of activities. In an organization, leadership remains one of the most important and observed undertaking. However, it is the least understood undertaking on planet (Burns and Abbasialiya, 2010). Several researches have been undertaken to determine the different styles of leadership as different organization have leadership styles that are different. Though the leadership styles can be different there are different virtues that a good leader need to have. Therefore a good leader is one who motivates, inspires, and directs activities in a way that will make the different groups within the organization achieve the organizational goals. Effective leadership in an organization can be measured in an organization through the achievement made over a given period. According to Naylor (1999), the product of effective leadership is ability to ensure that an organization works as required. An effective leader is one that is creative, visionary, flexible, passionate, inspiring, courageous, innovative, initiates change, imaginative, and experimental. Always effective leaders should be strategic in the way they carry out activities. He should ensure that always plans are in place to ensure that replacement of different leaders within an organization. Strategic leadership is one that will help an organization be able to plan the future and avoid fallouts when it comes to leadership replacement. Strategic leadership will always have different plans on how the organization will be run and ensure that those involved are aware of both the short term and long term. Strategies in leadership are necessary as they will ensure that the organization will have the programs that will protect it from any unforeseen activities. These paper will to look into the leadership style of Barrack Obama and how strategic it was. Style of leadership Barrack Obama was a kind of a leader whose leadership style that was transformative in nature. When he was getting into power, the American electorates had lost hope on the government and they needed somebody who could at least give them hope for transformation. When he got into leadership he was able to motivate the American electorates to come out in large numbers and vote him as president. At the time Obama was campaigning both George Bush and the Congress had a very low rating that many had been discouraged by the way that the government activities were being run. He started his campaigns with the slogan ‘Yes we can’ and many believed in him. When the elections were held the turnout for the voting was the highest in the history of America. These shows that he was a leader who was able to motivate and give hope to people. Many of the young people in America were able to rekindle the American dream once more. The second term of his presidency though he faced a stiff competition, he was able to still make people understand his dream and the reason why they needed to give him the second term to complete his projects. He was voted again and he was able to come up with many transformative agendas in America. Democracy during Obama presidency was key whereas development activities were also not left behind. America was able to come out of recession during this period, the number of jobs created during his administration was of the highest record in the history of America. All these achievements are worth to make one study the style of leadership that was found under that Obama administration. He is one of the leaders who are said to be charismatic and effective in the way they undertook there leadership programs. When learning a government like that of the United States of America, there are different styles of leadership in the daily running of the government. Some of the leadership styles that were seen during the Obama administration are as follows; Autocratic style of leadership- here sometimes president will take decision based on the executive power that were given to him as a president. Sometimes he could not consult citizen or the congress to agree with the decisions that he was taking. When running a government it is not possible that all those under you will agree with what you are going to undertake hence making it necessary to some extent make decisions that are autocratic in nature. Some circumstances and decision making points made president Obama be decisive and exclude the support of others (Charry, 2012). Democratic style of leadership- under this the decision are taken with the agreement of all stakeholders. The American democracy to a large extent was based on democracy and the president had to consult with the representative of people to ensure that the decision taken by him was one that most of them agrees with. Obama was one of the president who championed for a democratic state and the world at large (Charry, 2012). Laissez-faire style of leadership- This kind of leadership leaders give the freedom to the team members to choose on how they could work both in the short and long term. The leaders always will provide the required advice to ensure that things are running in the way they are required in the organization. Obama always gave those who he worked with the freedom to take decisions and chose on how they could work within his government, he could always listen to their views before undertaking this decision (Charry, 2012). Transformational Leadership It was the basic leadership that propelled him to power. He was able to show the American electorates on how America could be different under him. In fact he was able to build the economy from recession, he was able to create an enabling environment for creation of jobs. Obama is one of the best leaders that has ever had. His transformative nature of leadership was one that made him to have the highest rating in history of the American presidents. Some of the changes that had happened in America had not occurred in any leadership there before. Obama made people feel that they were getting better under his presidency. Though in politics one cannot lack criticism, Obama left America on a better status than he found it (Mulford, 2003). Bureaucratic Leadership In any government, Bureaucratic leadership is necessary as rules must be in place to ensure that things are running in the required. Procedures are to be followed in undertaking different functions of the government. If we lack all procedure of how things are done within a government then most of the things will not run as expected. This is due to the complexity of how things are. President Obama could not be an exception as he could have not run a government if procedure on how things were done in the process. Though it might not be effective in the way it does things the president had to follow procedures as stipulated in the constitution (Bass, 2008). Charismatic Leadership Charismatic leadership is one that can be likened to transformational leadership: under this the leaders are able to inspire and motivate team members to do thing better and achieve the goals. However, the charismatic nature of Obama leadership is shown by the different personal initiatives he had undertaken to ensure that many were motivated. One of them is the global entrepreneurship summit that was supposed to inspire young people get into business and depend on themselves. Obama was very ambitious in ensuring that most of the people in the world were getting out of poverty. Also on the other he was able to champion for freedom of all categories of people without of any fear of criticism (Chaudhry & Javed, 2012). Servant Leadership A "servant leader” is someone, regardless of the level he/she is in the society can lead team members towards achieving the goals that they are needed. He is a leader who works not to gain money but rather with the interest of people. He will always lead as an example in undertaking all activities within the organization. Barrack Obama was this kind of leader who was working for the Americans. He led as an example for all the undertaking in both the American and private life. He was able to inspire many both in America and the globe at large. He has given the energies in ensuring many get the right advice in undertaking there activities (Chaudhry & Javed, 2012). Transactional Leadership This style starts with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader when they accept a job. Being a commander in Chief of the Armed forces Barrack Obama was able to be obeyed in what he was doing and efforts were being put by those under him to ensure that they deliver what they required. AS a president he was able to punish those who did not do things as they were required. He could fire those who were willing to cooperate in undertaking different activities within the government (Chaudhry & Javed, 2012). For strategic leadership, Barrack Obama is one of them. He has been able to combine all the above forms of leadership to ensure that he has delivered what is required. He was able to mix to fit the different needs of the Americans and never depended on one kind of leadership. An organization/ person that depends on one kind of leadership does not have that success rate that it will require. However mixing different types of leadership enables many of those who are under you to easily adopt to the style of leadership you have in the organization. President Obama has been effective in the way he carried his presidency. Even after his term he remains a leader that many are looking into in imitating his leadership (Lamb & McKee, 2004). Some of the principles of leadership that mad Barrack Obama successful leader are as follows; his technical proficiency, ability to develop a sense of responsibility amongst the people he lead, his ability to ensure that tasks are supervised, understood, and accomplished. Others are as follows; keeping his workers informed, he knew his people well and ensured that their wellbeing is taken care of. He always knew himself and sort self-improvement. He always made timely and sound decisions, he easy took responsibility and was able to identify his responsibility. Lastly; he led as an example and had the ability to ensure that goals were achieved and correct mistakes in the case they occurred (Hargreaves & Fink, 2004). To ensure his leadership ability could continue even after his tenure president Obama came up with programs that were meant to equip young people with leadership skills. This was a strategic undertaking in leadership as an organization should always have ways in which it should replace those leaders who are going to go or get old. Learning mechanisms should be employed to ensure that they are learn methods of effective leadership within an organization. The different theories of leadership should be thought to understand the different ways that one can get to be a leader in any circumstances (Jenkins, 2013). The theories of leadership play an important role in defining who are who in an organization and how they have come to be leaders in any particular organization. The transformation of leadership techniques should be thought to all those are in leadership positions in different organization. This will ensue that all those who are there are peaceful in the way they are undertaking different changes within the organization. Change in an organization is another undertaking that will always determine the level of success an organization will attain. Where organizational leaders are able to employ and understand the best methods of change in an organization will always lead to better performance in an organizations. For example the lectures that president Obama provides in different learning centers and the setting up of the Barrack Obama foundation was a strategic leadership undertaking that was meant to ensure that young and those interested in getting advise related to leadership skills could continually get them even after his presidency (Ibara, 2010). This will ensure that there is no leadership vacuum in the society and better leaders will be created. Conclusion Strategic leadership is that kind of leadership that is able to blend different styles of leadership. It ensures that best leadership within the organization is one that most of the team members are able to appreciate and follow. Strategic leaders will always be in a position of ensuring that a transition formula is in place in case of any event occurs to those who are leaders within the organization. They will always ensure that the organizational goals are involved in the planning activities of there undertakings. Like president Obama prepared him for life after presidency and him now he is able to continually influence those who want to have ideas regarding leadership. References 1. Abbasialiya, A. (2010). The Concept of Leadership. 2. Anyamele, S. C. (2004). Institutional Management in Higher Education: A Study of Leadership Approaches to Quality Improvement in University Management. Nigerian and Finnish Cases. Doctoral Dissertation University of Helsinki. E-thesis. 3. Bass, B., Bass, R. (2008). The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and Managerial Application. 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