Leadership in the Organization - Essay Example

Heading: Work Place Report Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date 1. Theory a. Leadership in the organization Leadership is the superior’s ability to influence the subordinates’ behavior and to persuade them into following a specific action plan. Leadership and power are intertwined and this can be understood well by looking at the following types of power. Firstly, legitimate power is that which emanates from the superior’s position in a firm. Reward power, on the other hand, entails that which is attained through salary, interesting assignments and promotion. Thirdly, there is expert power that is acquired through possession of knowledge of an issue at hand. Fourthly, referent power refers to the one that is attained from the tendency of the subordinates to identify with and respect the leader. Lastly, there is coercive power that emanates from possible punishment and forced actions (IAAP, 2009). Successful leadership is a major factor in the organization’s life and success. Leadership turns a possibility into the reality. Moreover, leadership is the definitive action that causes success of all the potential that an organization and people possess. Besides, leaders tend to propose new model when there is a need for change (Walker, 2011 & Oslo, 2003). Leadership theories Trait/Great man or woman theory According to this theory, a leader is a totality different individual in relation to personality characteristics including perseverance, intelligence, and ambition. The theory assumes that people have inherent traits and that some of these characteristics are specifically suitable for leadership. It also assumes that individuals that are successful leaders have sufficient mixture of traits. Therefore, it majorly holds that if individuals can be born with these features, then they can be effective leaders (Walker, 2011). Behavioral theories The theory holds that leaders are not born but made. It also assumes that effective leadership is founded on learnable and definable behavior. These theories do not focus on inborn characteristics but rather on what leaders can do. Additionally, it holds that success is based on describable actions. This implies that leaders’ ability may be learned (Oslo, 2003). Theory X As Rothstein & Burke (2010) asserts, this holds that employees naturally hate work, and will always try to avoid. Since employees hate work, they should be forced, threatened, or controlled through punishment in order to meet the desired goals. Additionally, if possible, employees tend to evade their responsibilities and focus on direction. Besides, majority of the workers concentrate more security rather than any other work-related factor. Theory Y According to this theory, employees view work as a natural phenomena just like play or rest. They exercise self-control and self direction in order to achieve their objectives. Moreover, the theory holds that the capability to make effective decisions lies on the whole population rather than on a few managers (Neck, 2006). Participative leadership This theory emphasizes that a participative leader tends to involve other people in organizational activities. That is, rather than making autocratic decisions, he chooses to involve all the stakeholders in decision making. This leadership theory is appropriate with an immediate work team. Notably, the approach can also be referred to as empowerment, consultation, power-sharing, combined decision-making, Management by Objective. Nevertheless, if managers use this approach and disregard the other stakeholders’ opinions, it becomes a sham. This is because it leads to betrayal and cynicism (Oslo, 2003). Lewin’s participatory styles Autocratic Here, leaders make decisions without making any consultations with others, hence a great discontent. This approach is suitable when it is unnecessary to have others’ input. It also applies where any opinion will not affect the results of the decision. Besides, it is appropriate where people’s motivation is not affected by any involvement (Rothstein & Burke, 2010). Democratic Here, leaders involve people in effective decision making, even though the final decision process differs across leaders. It is suitable when people have previously experienced autocratic decisions. Democratic leadership may be an issue where there is a variety of opinions and difficulty in making a balanced decision (Neck, 2006). Laissez-Faire According to Bass & Bass (2009), this style reduces the involvement of the leader in decision making. It is most suitable where people are motivated and allowed to make decisions on their own. Besides, it suits a situation that does not require central coordination. Situational leadership Here, a leader’s best action depends on various situational factors. There are three forces motivating the leaders’ actions and they include: situation’s forces, follower’s forces, and leader’s forces. The theory holds that leaders’ approach varies, and in events, such as, family issues affect their decisions in an organization. Transformational leadership This assumes that people tend to follow an individual that inspires them. For instance, people with passion and vision may acquire grand things, which can be met through energy and enthusiasm (Levi, 2011 & Bolman & Deal, 2013). Transactional leadership This theory upholds the leader’s use of management of exception. This implies the process of work based on the belief that things work as per the expectations and that no attention is necessary. It focuses on the rational man and response to punishment and rewards (Northouse, 2012). 2. Practice in the organization (banking institution) This is one of the upcoming banking institutions in the country. I work there as an employee; assistant human resources manager. The organization has a clear organizational chart that runs from the top management down to the subordinate staff. Compared to theory, the firm portrays a difference in the management and leadership styles. As per the management and management theories put forth by various experts, such as, Chester Bernard, effective leaders are born leaders rather than made or trained (Oslo, 2003). However, the leadership at the bank suggests the contrary. This is because the leaders do not show any inborn traits in themselves but describable actions as held by behavioral theories. Leaders at the bank seem to be trained as they are not effective; they cannot put the concepts into the reality; hence the banks’ poor performance in the industry. Secondly, theory is different from practice at the institution regarding the management and leadership styles employed there. According to theory X, employees naturally hate work and would require a little force to make them appreciate work. This is the exact situation at the banking institution as employees tend to focus more on their job security rather than on their performance. Additionally, at the institution, there is a difference between theory and practice as there is no participatory management approach as suggested in the textbooks. This is because the management is more inclined to autocratic rather than democratic. This implies that the management do not involve the employees in the decision making process of the firm. Here, the leaders and management give instructions to the employees without considering their opinions. What is more, the management style is different from Lewin’s participatory style of management whereby employees are allowed and encouraged to make their own decisions (Bass & Bass, 2009). Employees in the banking institution have no specific leader that they seem to follow as a role model. This is different from the theory of transformational leadership (Bolman & Deal, 2013). Instead, they are forced by the autocratic leadership that instructs them on what to do and denies them a chance to make own decisions. The assumptions and principles of transactional leadership style also fail to apply in the organization as employees are willing to perform as rational human beings but they are denied the opportunity. This is also due to the fact that there are strict rules and regulations that control them and they are punished upon non-conformity. b. Self-managed teams Self management entails a self-directed as compared to a boss-directed kind of approach of management. It focuses on employee commitment instead of a usual control-centered management style. Notably, self-managing teams and individuals take the responsibility of choosing the styles to task execution and for the management and monitoring of their behaviors. Some of the skills involved in self-management include goal setting, self-reinforcement, self-evaluation, self observation, self-rehearsal, and self-punishment. In fact, self-managing teams appear as their own bosses. They possess high levels of authority and responsibility to make effective decisions regarding own tasks. There are numerous advantages of self-management and it has propelled the firms on the right track (Neck, 2006). On contrast, Cork (2007) says that self-managing teams tend to function collaboratively. In fact, self-managing teams do not use any personal self-management approaches, and a possible loss of personal power and empowerment for members of the team. A self-managing team is composed of highly trained group, self-directed individuals who have discovered or accepted jointly all the tasks and responsibilities essential to accomplish a given task. It replaces the conventional work group controlled by a supervisor and the members take duties that could have been assumed by a first-line supervisor or a manager. This implies that the work team instead of the supervisor is collectively and ultimately responsible for the work done. This also implies that the first-line superior is dispensable and the firm gets flatter (Rothstein & Burke, 2010). It is worth-noting that the emergence of the self-managing teams has led to great confusion and stress to the managers regarding their roles. Several organizations have embraced self-managing teams in order to change, while others have employed it so as to achieve all the advantages that come with it. Poor transitional planning is among the problems hindering the effectiveness of this approach. Therefore, some of the leaders have used this in their favor to assign extra work and delegate most of their undesirable tasks so as to burden the members with menial tasks while others changed paradigms without consider looking at the essential training, knowledge transfer, and experience for every team (Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 2003). Firms that consider adopting self-managing teams will succeed in defining the work scope being assigned to a particular team. Delegation may be valuable in building a team’s self-efficacy. This also allows the team to expand gradually and collect more authority and responsibility as it works on the project. This offers the leader a comprehensible role and the team an apparent field in which to play (Daft & Lane, 2008). Some of the vital guidelines for proper delegation include clear specification of responsibilities; provision of enough authority and defines discretion limits; and specifying reporting requirements. Ensuring that members accept responsibilities; passing information; monitoring progress appropriately; and providing assistance and support are highly indispensable. It is also crucial to learn from mistakes and shirk reverse delegation (Walker, 2011). Practice in the organization In relation to the self-managed teams, the organization’s management approach to this is different. Contrary that these teams should be allowed to manage and direct themselves, the bank’s management tends to direct the teams. Besides, the teams have low levels of responsibility and authority to make decisions relating to their tasks in the organization. Essentially, these teams should be allowed to choose the styles they feel appropriate in order to execute their duties well in the organization. However, the management not only monitors and supervises them, but also chooses the work execution styles for the teams. In addition, the self-managing teams should work collaboratively as stipulated by theory, but that is not the case in the organization. Instead, they have embraced some form of individual management approaches as required by the management. 3. Recommendations and suggestions for change In order to experience an effective management and leadership, the banking institution has to engage in a lot of clean-up of the poor management practice it currently adopts. Some of the recommendations include: The organization should focus on adopting a kind of leadership that posses inborn leadership traits rather than those that are made. This implies that it is imperative for the organization to invest in leaders that have inborn leaders instead of trying to make or train. It is also crucial for the organization to encourage their employees to adopt theory Y’s principles. This implies that it should cultivate among its employees the idea that work is a natural phenomenon just like play or rest. This is possible through incentives and sufficient motivation. Employees should be given enough job security so as to focus on performance. There should not be anything worrying them, such as, salaries, security, and welfare so as to concentrate on meeting the organizational objectives. It is vital that the organization adopts the Laissez-Faire kind of leadership as it enables the employees to make their own decisions regarding work. The management should delegate decision making process to the employees so as to make them feel valued and involved in the process. The management in the organization should also embrace a democratic form of leadership and management so as to allow the employees make decisions regarding the organizational operations. The organization’s management and leadership should also embrace transactional leadership that views employees as rational human beings. This can be achieved by bending the rules and regulations so as to create a favorable environment for the employees. It is also critical for the organization to enable the self-managing teams to work collaboratively in making decisions regarding their tasks. It is also important for the organization to give employees chance to choose the appropriate work execution styles and just do their supervisory and monitoring roles. It should also empower the self-managing teams to engage in activities, such as, self-direction, self-negotiation, self-rehearsal, self-appraisal, and self-monitoring and evaluation. References Bass, B. & Bass, R. (2009). The Bass Handbook of Leadership Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications. New York: Free Pr. Pp. 145-160. Bolman, L. & Deal, T. (2013). Reframing organizations artistry, choice and leadership. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass. Pp. 20-45. Cork, B. (2007). Self-managed teams: how to do more with less. South Brisbane, Qld: BookPal. Pp. 146-160. Daft, R. & Lane, P. (2008). The leadership experience. Mason, OH: Thomson/South- Western. Pp. 40-60. IAAP (2009). Leadership Theories and Styles. Administrative Professionals Week Event. Pp. 1- 10. http://www.etsu.edu/ahsc/documents/Leadership_Theories.pdf Levi, D. (2011). Group dynamics for teams. Los Angeles: SAGE. Pp. 174-185. Neck, C. (2006). Self-leadership. Bradford, England: Emerald Group Pub. Pp. 273-280. Oslo, H. (2003). Organisation Development: Important Theories of Leadership and Management in organisations. Pp. 1-20. http://home.hio.no/~araki/arabase/emne/frncangel.pdf Rothstein, M. & Burke, R. (2010). Self-management and leadership development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Pp. 260-270. Schermerhorn, J. R., Hunt, J. G., & Osborn, R. N. (2003). Self-Managing Teams. Organizational Behavior. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Pp. 205-207. Walker, A. (2011). Organizational behaviour in construction. Chichester, West Sussex, UK Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell. Pp. 259-270. Northouse, P. (2012). Introduction to leadership: concepts and practice. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications. Pp. 50-80. Read More