Analysis of Leaders Influence on Organizational Effectiveness - Coursework Example

LEADERS INFLUENCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS Name Institution Subject Instructor Date Introduction Leadership is a topic that has attracted continuous debate as well as spectrums of personal opinion concerning the description of characteristics, personal attributes, behaviors or even positions. It is clear that it takes a leader to bring about influences or impacts on organizational effectiveness irrespective of the arena in which the leader is involved. The leadership arena could be religion, political, sports or even business among others. Researchers have attempted to provide answers to the question regarding the extent to which organizational effectiveness is impacted by leadership (Maxwell, 2005). It has been establish that the behavior of leaders in leadership directly relates to the overall performance of an organization or the overall organization perception. It is important for those in the leadership positions to have a better understanding of the kind of relationship that exist between leadership and organizational effectiveness so that they can be able adjust their behavior, personal attributes as well as characteristics accordingly (Bertocci, 2009). The manner in which leaders conduct themselves not only impacts the effectiveness of an organization but it also impact on the employers and those that are under that leadership. Employers in an organization have got a lot of trust and faith in their organizational leaders with regard to their capabilities. For this reason the leaders in an organization are expected by those under their leadership; to provide a compelling vision regarding the direction of the organization, to be consistent in the pursuance and achievement of goals (Uhl-bien & Marion, 2008). The capabilities of an organizational leader with enhanced personal efficacy sense and who is competent among other people considerably affects the confidence in others. The reflection of the confidence in overall sense can be done in a manner that will contribute to the endurance and prosperity of an organization (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2009). Thesis statement: Organizational effectiveness has for a long time been associated with the leadership structures and the leaders involved in an organization. It is therefore necessary to establish the extent to which this is applicable in organizational leadership (Porter, Angle & Allen, 2003). Leaders influence on organizational effectiveness The extent to which leadership influences the effectiveness on an organization is largely dependent on the purpose or reason for the success of leadership in that particular organization. However, there are certain times when the kind of focus placed on a leader by an organization appears to be more of demonstrating dependency as opposed to focusing on attaining its goals which may sometimes be a bit dangerous and detrimental to the entire organization development. For this reason there have been several attempts by most organizations to institutionalize leadership as a way of avoiding this manner of dependency (Mendonca & Kanungo, 2006). Examples of leaders and leaderships who have demonstrated their leadership influence to achieve organizational effectiveness include the Toyota Company chief executive officer Jim Lentz whose influence as a leader has global effectiveness and success of the company. Other examples include the effective organizational leadership of the Microsoft Company co-founder and world’s most successful entrepreneur that has been globally influential in a successful manner. The idea of introducing the enhancement of effectiveness in an organization through it leadership has led to the improvement of leadership structures and also a change in the desirable features and personal attributes in of a leader. It is however argued by researchers that when it comes to the effectiveness of an organization, everyone’s role and contribution counts and is equally important. Achievements are distributed across the board and accomplishments are realized through collective efforts (Briggs, 2008). Leaders, especially, at organizational capacity are capable of showing guidance towards visions, organizing groups, maintaining the course and finally helping the entire organization realize their goals. For the prosperity and survival of an organization, effective leadership must be put in place and their abilities and achievements be made evident to those under their leadership. A good thing about leadership however, is that skills and behaviors that are associated with leadership can actually be developed (Sims, 2002). Leaders in an organization play a critical role in formulation of an engagement culture through direct or indirect impact on the engagement factors. Leaders can have a direct influence on engagement which is achieved through availing career development opportunities as well as valuing the employees. Organizational leaders also offer direct impact on engagement through making sure that all the required resources for successful roles by the employees are provided to them (House, 2006). According to most theorists in the organizational leadership, effective leadership contributes significantly to the overall success of an organization. The theorists further suggest that there is not adequate understanding regarding the things that leadership entails and also the expectation from leaders in order to realize organizational effectiveness (Schultz, 2010). In order to clearly understand the extent to which organizational effectiveness is affected by leaders and leadership, organizational theorists have suggested some leadership concepts and theories such as; Social influence and leadership Through this concept, leadership is viewed as a process that involves influence through social interactions and engagements and by which those involved exchange aid and support in the accomplishment of a mission or a task. Some important things inherent in this theory are the fact that the mission or task cannot be performed by one person alone (Sinha, 2008). The other thing is that leadership is an interpersonal and social process. Finally, is that the leadership process allows the performance of certain mission or task that is outside the group activities. However, despite all this the perception of leadership as a social influence, there is still unexploited information concerning the association between leadership and social influence as far as organizational leadership is concerned (Riggio & Orr, 2004). Organizational intelligence and leadership A very critical understanding of organizational effectiveness and leadership involves application of a metaphor that trickles down from the intelligence construct. The ability of an organization to function effectively has got much more to do with the organizational as well as leadership intelligence (Neider & Schriesheim, 2005). Intelligent organizational leaders have got the ability to function effectively in their capacity and as well as in matters relating to organizational management. This is because of their ability store skills and knowledge obtained from various experiences in day to day activities. A very important leadership intelligence aspect, however, has to do with the fact that organizations pose skills and changing environments that are dynamic in nature (Bertocci, 2009). The knowledge and information obtained from previous experiences may, however, not be adequate in meeting new challenges. Effective leadership intelligence entails positioning one’s self so as to be sensitive to the organizational environment and making use of the systems of learning in existence. Doing this in an organization allows one to elaborate, expand and boost their acquired leadership knowledge so as to be able to carry out analysis of new situations and formulate new solutions in that particular organization environment (Maxwell, 2005). Organizations are therefore expected to emulate such exampled in order for them to operate in an effective manner as far as success and achieving their goals are concerned. Leadership has been traditionally viewed as the occupation that involves individuals endowed with skills that are special and unique which give them an edge over others. However with the introduction of latest social science researchers have been able to perform studies in search of personal traits associated with organizational leadership effectiveness (Briggs, 2008). The contingency theory of leadership A very important breakthrough in the organizational leadership research involved the realization that for leadership in an organization to be effective, leadership has to include corresponding strategies and behaviors to certain given situations. Leadership responsibilities that are usually accomplished in a more effective manner are the most understood. With regard to transformational organizational leadership, research has recently determined that the people who are regarded as those with outstanding leadership qualities have a description as people who are trustworthy and extremely knowledgeable. They are also very concerned and sensitive to the needs of those under their leadership with regard to growth and development in an organization (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2009). The success and effectiveness of an organization have in the past been associated with leadership and management structure of an organization. This is because of the authority and power that rests with top management and leadership as far as organizational operations are concerned. The culture of organizational leadership and management has been accorded much attention as a very important factor as far as organizational longevity is concerned (Stringer, 2001). The productivity of an organization, the economic performance as well as the satisfaction of the employees are some of the parameters that demonstrate the effectiveness of an organization and are initiated and sustained through organizational leadership. It is after the leadership intervention that the other collective organizational aspects come into play. These include the interpersonal collective attitude of an organization which is influenced by policies, values, norms and structures put in place through the leadership (Mendonca & Kanungo, 2006). Conclusion In conclusion, it has been established that successful leadership plays a very significant role in determining the organizational effectiveness. And that leadership offers successful organizational influence among individuals with a vision of realizing the accomplishment of shared goals in a manner that is satisfactory to the involved parties. This is the case due to the fact that some organizations have begun to change their definition of organizational leadership by depending a lot on innovation, creativity as well as development of knowledge acquisition. It is clear that the use of research surveys as well as other structured research techniques involving extensive literature review is largely important in determining the extent to which the effectiveness of an organization is by leadership structures. It is, thus, important to understand that effectiveness in leadership makes the members of an organization to become independent and responsible in discharging their tasks and responsibilities. References BERTOCCI, D. I. (2009). Leadership in organizations there is a difference between leaders and managers. Lanham, Md, University Press of America. BRIGGS, D. G. (2008). The relationship between leadership practices and organizational effectiveness outcomes a public transit agency study. 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