The Roles Played by an Effective Leader in Achieving Organizational Success - Coursework Example

Client inserts his/her name Client inserts tutor’s name Name of Institution Course title Date of submission Introduction Effective leadership has been pointed out by many studies as an essential element in ensuring organizational success. Researchers in this field argue that for any organization to realize its goals and hence become successful, it must have an effective leader. Even a country like any other organization requires an effective leader in order to achieve economic growth. It is argued that the most important role of an effective leader that steers an organization in achieving its mission is decision making. Following this recent realization of the importance of effective leadership, many organizations have come up with initiatives of ensuring their leaders or mangers receive up to date leadership training in order to become effective leaders. Therefore, this paper aims to outline and discuss in detail the role played by an effective leader in enhancing organizational success. In order to support this argument, the paper will use various examples of organizations that have become successful as a result of effective leadership. The roles played by an effective leader in achieving organizational success According to Michael (2002), the role played by a leader in the 21st organizations is far much different from the roles played by a leader in the traditional era. Researchers argue that in today’s organizations, leadership is considered as an action and not a position as it used to be decades ago. Many organizations are sensitizing the need of having their leaders trained on effective leadership, as they have realized that it is an essential element necessary for achieving organizational success. According to Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (2002), an effective leader possesses various qualities that enable him or her in steering an organization towards achieving its organizational goals. One of the important qualities possessed by an effective leader is emotional intelligence. According to Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to perceive, understand and control emotions in order to remain focused in achieving one’s goals even amidst various challenges. Research shows that many of the today’s organizations are faced with various challenges such as financial constraints, competition, inadequate human resources among many others. Therefore, the working environment in many organizations is overwhelming for the employees. For these employees to remain focused in achieving their organizational goals, they need an effective leader, who is emotionally intelligent to encourage and support them in remaining committed towards achieving their organizational goals. A leader who possesses emotional intelligence is not easily overwhelmed by difficult situations and hence remains focused in ensuring that his or her organization succeeds amidst difficult situations. Another trait of effective leadership that enhances organizational success is responsibility. Effective leaders embrace their responsibilities in ensuring that their followers accomplish all their duties in order to achieve their organizational goals. Responsible leaders are able to win the trust of their team members, who are always willing to follow the directions given by their leader. Responsibility is a trait that enables a leader to positively influence the other employees in an organization to become responsible of the duties delegated to them in achieving organizational success. This means that through effective leadership, employees remain focused in accomplishing their various duties and hence an organization is able to record good performance. According to Ancona (2005), in today’s business world, many companies are going global and are embracing a multicultural human resource. This mean that leaders in these organizations have to possess the qualities required in leading the diverse employees in order to realize organizational success. This means that the role of a leader in today’s business organizations is not just a position but is a responsibility that requires high competence. Jandaghi (2009) argues that today’s business organizations requires a leader to lead and act . This shows that effective leadership skills are essential in ensuring that leaders are able to meet the expectations of their employers in ensuring their organizations become successful. According to Salahuddin (2010), today’s organizations especially in the business world are facing much competition. Organizations have to manage their limited resources in ensuring that they are able to compete with their rivals in the few, available markets. For any organization to compete equally with its rivals in today’s markets, it requires an effective leader. Many researchers have argued that an effective leader has the qualities to lead, organize and properly balance an organization’s resources in ensuring that it remains competitive in the market. An effective leader does not only manage an organization’s resources, but also comes up with new and better marketing mechanisms to ensure that the organizations remains a competitive leader in the available markets. According to Heifitz (2001), the other value of an effective leader that enhances organizational success is effective decision making. With organizations facing many challenges such as inadequate resources, competition and diverse workforce, among many others, leaders are required to make sound and effective decisions that are able to steer an organization in realizing its goals. In any organization, employees are guided by the decisions made by their leaders. This means that for employees to become resourceful; they need sound decisions to guide them in how to execute their various responsibilities. Therefore, for any organization to be successful, it needs an effective leader, who is able to make sound decisions for guiding and directing the rest of the workforce. According to Heathfield (2012), another important role of an effective leader is day-to-day management of employee performance. An effective leader has the ability to set clear goals and expectations, which are to be achieved by an organization for it to be successful. An effective leader is able to give feedback to his or her team members on their performance and lays the way forward for them. As Heathfield argues, an effective leader is able to recognize hard work and reward it in order to motivate the rest of the employees to perform better. For the employees who register low performance, an effective leader is able to note them, give them the required counseling and coach them in order to become productive. Apart from carrying out all these essential roles, an effective leader has the ability to realize an employee’s talents and utilize them in realizing good performance and hence steer the organization towards succeeding. The other quality of effective leadership that makes it essential for organizational success is communication skills. According to Heifitz (2001), for an organization to become successful, it should have a leader who is able to initiate meaningful communication and interactions among the employees. It is through effective communication that a leader is able to state an organization’s goals and expectation provide meaningful feedback to the employees and communicate the way forward for them. In any organization, there arises a conflict between the employees and the leader or even among the employees themselves. For an organization to be successful, these conflicts must be resoled wisely. As Heifitz argues, it is only an effective leader who has the ability to manage and resolve such conflicts in order to ensure that an organization achieves its goals. An effective leader is also an important element for organizational success as he or she is responsible for employee motivation and engagement. According to Ancona, an effective leader uses mechanisms such as performance appraisal, rewards, and annual holidays, promotions among others in order to motivate and engage the employees. Above all, an effective leader is able to ensure that the employees are appreciated by their employers in order to initiate a positive morale in them and hence remain focused in ensuring that their organization is successful. According to Jandaghi (2009), effective leadership ensures that employees’ competences are managed and enhanced in order to realize organizational success. However, management of employees’ competences and skills is an issue that faces various challenges in many organizations. This is because many employers are reluctant in investing in enhancing their employees’ competences. On the other hand, many employees are also reluctant in getting involved in any training aimed at enhancing their competences as they take it as an extra load on top of their organizational duties. Therefore, it requires an effective leader to sensitize the need of employee training to enhance their competences in realizing their organizational goals. It is only an effective leader, who has the skills to convince the employers in coming up with initiatives of training their employees. It is also requires an effective leader, to convince employees in undertaking training in order to enhance their competences. According to Heifitz, today’s work environments are constantly changing. Therefore, today’s leaders are required to posses a crucial skill which is change management. The greatest challenge facing many organizations in change management is resistance from employees who fear and hence avoid change. If employees fail to embrace change, an organization cannot thrive in today’s competitive business field. This means that organizations need effective leaders who are able to manage change in order to be successful. It is only an effective leader, who has the skills to manage employees’ resistance to change and instead convince them to embrace change in order to make their organization succeed. According to Heathfield, the absence of an effective leader therefore means that an organization suffers various dramatic effects. Such damaging impacts include lack of sound decisions to drive the organization towards achieving its organizational goals, lack of employee motivation, engagement and retention, low performance since employees are not motivated, poor change management, among many others. All these negative impacts makes an organization fail to achieve its organizational goals and as a result, cannot succeed in today’s competitive business world. Therefore, every organization needs top ensure that their leaders are equipped with effective leadership skills in order to become successful. Examples of successful organization as a result of effective leadership According to Litsa (2004), there are many business organizations that have become successful as a result of effective leadership. Taking an example in the Australian business field, there are various leaders who have steered their organizations in realizing their organizational goals and hence have become successful. One of the local organizations is Boost Juice Bars owned by Janine Allis, and who is also its managing director. Research has pointed this company as one of the fast growing companies in Australia. This is because Janine as an effective leader has taken the role of leading by example. Janine does not only lead but helps her employees in executing their duties such as cleaning and painting the floors. The company has also embraced change as it has a diverse workforce and Janine being an effective leader, has been able to manage them in achieving the organizational goals. Janine has been argued to be a leader who is friendly, inspiring and who knows how to motivate her employers by recognizing and rewarding their hard work. Janine as an effective leader has always maintained good relations with all her staff member, and hence has won their trust and respect. Due to this, her employees respect her decisions and are willing to follow the way laid down by her in order to register good performance. Capital Dynamics is an international business which is based in many countries including Australia, which has been listed as one of the most successful companies in the world. The company was founded by Tan Teng Boo, who is also the managing director. Boo has been labeled by many as an effective leader who has enabled his organization to expand its wings to many countries. As an effective leader, Boo has been able to overcome various challenges such as employees’ resistance to change, workforce diversity issues, competition among many others. It has been pointed out that it is through the hard work of its managing director that Capital Dynamic has emerged to be one of the fastest growing organizations in the world. Conclusion From the paper, it is clear that effective leadership is a necessary element in ensuring organizational success. Today’s organizations are facing many challenges such as competition, limited resources, workforce diversity, and change management among others. For any organization to overcome all these obstacles, it requires a leader who has effective leadership skills. Examples of organizations that have become successful as a result of effective leadership is Boost Juice Bars led by Janine Allis and Capital Dynamic managed by Tan Teng Boo. An effective leader does not only organize an organization’s employees but also motivates and empowers them to become productive and hence ensures that the organization registers good performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that for any organization to be successful, it must ensure that its leader is well equipped with up to date effective leadership skills. Works cited Ancona, D. (2005). Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty. Cambridge: MIT Leadership Center. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E., & McKee, A. (2002) Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Heathfield, S.M. (2012). Employee Management and Leadership in the Workplace. Available at:http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementandleadership/u/ma nagepeople.html Nov.2012.web 18Sept.2012. Heifitz, R.A. (2001). The Work of Leadership. Harvard Business Review. Jandaghi, G.(2009).' Comparing Transformational Leadership in Successful and Unsuccessful Companies', Journal of International Social Research Vol 2(6). Litsa. N. S. (2004). 'Business Leaders', Environment and Leadership Styles Ma , Vol. 52(3): 407–427 SAGE Publications. Michael. F, (2002).'Leadership for the 21st Century: Breaking the Bonds of Dependency', Vol. 55(7). Salahuddin, M.M. (2010). 'Generational Differences Impact On Leadership Style And Organizational Success, Journal of Diversity Management - Vol 5(2). . Read More