Can an Organization Function without Effective Leadership - Coursework Example

Leadership individual essay By student’s name Course code+ name Professor’s name University name City, state Date of submission Question 2- Can an organization function without effective leadership? Leadership is the process that indulges a leader in activities that are meant to achieve a certain goal. Leadership therefore involves working towards a set goal. Effective leadership determines the success of a business based on the achievement of the goals of the organization. This essay therefore discusses the point of view that an organization cannot function without effective leadership. Ineffective leadership makes organizations to stagnate in relation to the achievement of the objectives that have been set for the organization. Without effective leadership employees or workers are demotivated and there are no structures in an organization that are meant to steer the organization to growth. (Achua & Lussier 2010, 12) The impact of leadership in an organization is measured by the success and growth of the organization. The role of a leader in an organization is, among other things, to set the goals or the vision for the organization and to motivate the people in the organization towards the achievement of these goals. In setting the goals for the organization, the leader is responsible for ensuring that there is an effective organizational structure to guide the employees and the workers in the performance of their responsibilities. The organizational structures are put in place to ensure that there is accountability at the organization through ensuring that all individuals in the organization perform the duties and responsibilities that are allocated to them.Organizational structure involves the formulation of the right procedures and policies to guide in the achievement of the goals of the organization. This means that without the leader, such structure would not exist and therefore there would be disorganization and chaos in the organization. A leader is supposed to set performance standards that the employees are expected to comply with as a way to ensure a high rate of performance at the organization (Achua&Lussier 2010, 22). Part of setting the performance standards at the organization includes encouraging competition among the employees. Such strategy is made to ensure that the employees are motivated to work towards the achievement of the goals of the organization. The role of the leader in an organization is to make decisions in regard to the use of the resources of the organization. A leader therefore is supposed to ensure that the resources of the organization are utilized in a way that promotes the growth of the organization. (Alvesson et al. 2003, 1438) Leadership has different types which impact differently on an organization. Authoritarian leadership is commanding and involves setting certain expectations for the employees in the organization. Employees are then required to meet these expectations. This type of leadership ensures that the employees receive instructions from the leader and that such instructions must be acted upon in line with the mission and the goals of the organization. Democratic leadership on the other hand involves a system where the leader encourages feedback from the employees in regard to the performance of the organization. This type of leadership provides for consultations between the leader and the employees in order to come up with effective strategies to ensure that there is improvement in the work performance. This translates to the achievement of the goals that have been set (Nam et al. 2011, 210). Laissez faire is a leadership approach where the leaders and the employees work according to their own preferences and depending on their own schedule. While this type of leadership can be used to stimulate development, it is in most cases detrimental to the organization. An organization requires accountability structures where the employees are accountable to the leader to ensure that high quality work performance is maintained. Without leaders or effective leadership, organizations stagnate in growth as a result of demoralization of the employees. (Nam et al. 2011, 210) Ineffective leadership affects the work performance in an organization and therefore works against the growth of the organization. Effective leadership on the other hand works towards promoting the growth of an organization. Organizations cannot function effectively in the midst of poor leadership. This is despite the rise in the discussion that organizations can actually function effectively without leaders. An example of Morning Star Company, which deals with processing tomato products, has been given as a success story involving a company without leaders. However, there are high chances for the collapse of a business or an organization where the employees are left to work on their own and without any form of supervision. (Jing et al. 2011, 5) Some of the poor leadership traits that affect the performance of an organization include wrongful use of power by the leader and poor communication skills. Where a leader uses their power to undermine the other employees by intimidating them, it is likely that such employees will lack the motivation to work towards the achievement of the goals of the organization (Muchiri et al. 2012, 670). An example of this is where the leader threatens employees of termination of employment in order to make them do responsibilities outside the scope of their work, including performing tasks that are ordinarily the responsibility of the leader. Such qualities in a leader can only be the start of the downfall of an organization(Judge &Picollo 2004, 760). Abusive leadership can involve aggressive behaviors of the leader directed towards the employees. This can include yelling at the employees, ridiculing the employees and threats directed at the employees. Such conduct works against the growth of the company. A key role of the leader is to motivate the employees in order to ensure that they do their duties as required and to work towards the growth of the organization. A leader with poor communication skills cannot be able to motivate the employees. Without good communication skills a leader cannot be able to address the employees with respect. The result is the rise of conflicts in the organization that tears away the unity that is required between the employees(Boedker et al. 2011, 34). Ineffective leadership also arises from low experience of the leader in question in dealing with leadership issues. A leader must be capable of assessing the challenges that may arise in the pursuit of the achievement of the organizational goals. The leader must be capable of coming up with strategies to deal with such challenges. Part of the role of a leader is to ensure that there are effective conflict resolution mechanisms that are available in case of disputes between employees (Griffin & Moorhead 2011, 58). Without the necessary experience and capability as a leader, such person cannot be able to deal with issues related to leadership. A leader’s ability to plan for and have control of the organization is important in order to be able to run the organization effectively and in the right direction. Ineffective leadership is where the leader does not have a plan laid down on the future and the progress to be made in the organization. Without the formulation of plans and goals of the organization, there is no way of assessing the progress made in the organization. The lack of resources can also lead to ineffective leadership. A leader must have the necessary resources necessary to run the organization. This means that such leader has to ensure that the resources are used wisely to ensure that they impact on positive growth of the organization. Misuse of the resources for the organization can lead to the fall of the organization. The fate of the organization therefore lies in the hands of the leader. This can be seen through the numerous companies and organizations that have collapsed as a result of the misappropriation of funds by the leaders. (Bolman & Deal 2011, 21) The effects of ineffective leadership are felt in that such leadership works against the success of the organization. Ineffective leadership leads to the below average performance of an organization. This is because ineffective leadership is characterized by the lack of vision on the part of the leader. Without a plan or goals for the organization there is no way to measure the success of the business. Ineffective leadership lacks purpose and therefore cannot promote the growth of the organization (House et al. 2004, 15). The lack of a vision for the leader in an organization means that it is impossible for the organization to compete with other organizations. Such an organization cannot therefore be able to adapt to the changes in the market. An example of such a company with leaders that lacked vision is the General Motors Company. As a result of the lack of vision on the part of the leaders, GM was unable to adapt to the changes in the market. It was therefore unable to compete with its competitors from Korea and Japan who were able to produce fuel efficient models of cars (Cha & Edmondson 2006, 59). Ineffective leadership also comprises of having leaders who have a poor understanding of business finances. Such leaders cannot be able to handle the cash flow in the organization. An organizationwhose business depends on the season requires leaders who can be able to manage cash flow. This is for example for those businesses that rely on tourist numbers. Ineffective leadership in such businesses means that the business cannot survive during the low season. (Howell & Costley 2001, 12) Leadership contributes immensely to the success of an organization. Such success is measured based on the ability to achieve the goals of the organization. Success of the organization is dependent on the outcome. This essay has shown the importance of effective leadership to an organization. Effective leadership means having a leader who has a vision for the organization and motivates the workers or employees towards the achievement of such goal.Effective leadership also means having a leader who has good communication skills to be able to address the employees respectively as well as to be able to communicate the vision of the organization with ease. Such leadership becomes a key determinant of the success of the organization. Ineffective leadership on the other hand arises where the leader is unable to improve the work performance in an organization. Such leadership is characterized by the inability of the leader to motivate and inspire the workers of the organization. Such leadership demotivates the workers and leads to the failure of the organization. An organization cannot therefore function without effective leadership. Ineffective leadership tears the organization apart. Instead of unity, such leadership fosters conflict and misunderstanding in the organization. Instead of growth, ineffective leadership leads to the deterioration of the organization. References Achua, C. F., & Lussier, R. N. 2010. Effective leadership. South-Western. Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. 2003. Managers doing leadership: The extra-ordinarization of the mundane, Human Relations,56, 1435−1459. 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