Leadership, Innovation and Change - Assignment Example

Leadership, Innovation, and change Author’s name Institutional affiliation Introduction Scholars and philosophers have always depicted the inevitability of change. In the current fast-paced world of technological advancement and globalization, Leadership, innovation, and change are inseparable. Leadership is distinctive of management and is an essential determinant of success at home, either in a firm, country or institution (Johnston & Marshall, 2016). Leadership has never had any magic combination for effectiveness. However, some leaders fail while others succeed. What matters is the effort and action one takes after failing. This paper, therefore, presents a reflection of what makes a good leader, the key theories, and issues surrounding leadership, the lessons I acquired from the class work concerning the topic and behaviors I need to change. How do we know what makes a leader Emotional intelligence is one of the indispensable ways of discovering a good leader. These kinds of people have a high affinity for self-awareness, which goes hand in hand self-esteem, they depict actions of empathy, excellent social skills, are highly motivated and self-regulated. Emotional intelligence is an aspect that can have gradual improvement but its success lies not only in the brain but also on one's enthusiasm to become significant, positive approach to feedback from colleagues and extensive practice (Goleman et al., 2006) Leaders strive to empower others and see them climb the success ladders. In most situations, are you able to see what needs to be done? Or do you find yourself waiting to be guided or nudged one way or another? There are situations when I can see and know what action needs execution.It is because I am aware of the issues surrounding my area of work. As leaders striving for effectiveness, I exhibit a high rate of emotional intelligence. I practice empathy and understand that all people are not the same thus; they need to be given time to perform their duties at their pace as long as they deliver quality work on time. My good interpersonal and social skills have kept me at par with the top management and ancillary staff since I inclusively engage them in discovering what more needs to more to enhance the company productivity. Since I am highly motivated, there is no need to wait and have someone remind me what I need to do all the time. I have a flexible schedule, which I adhere to in most instances. However, this does not mean that I do not welcome any corrections or views from other members of the firm. Since globalization calls for expanding businesses worldwide, I seek more knowledge from models and enroll for training for empowerment in handling culturally diverse workforce and business partners I also ensure that employees get regular training on the same from known experts to sharpen their skills.It ensures high performance and eventually competitive advantage. Trait theories dispute that all great leaders have an array of shared personality qualities. The internal presentations of our thoughts reflect more on our characters as opposed to living external representations (Dure et al., 2011). These traits determine the kind of a leader I will become. These personalities entail empathy, honesty, intelligence, integrity, good decision-making skills and assertiveness. Behavioral theories have their basis on how people behave. According to Lewin Kurt, as cited by (mindtool.com, 2006) argued that there are three main types of leaders based on their behavior. The first one is autocratic leaders who make decisions without making consultations with the members of board or team. Its utilization mostly where there is a need for quick decision-making or views of other members may take long to agre. In a good number of cases, the leadership style entails a tremendous success with a single person decision. Nonetheless, its employment in a situation that needs a lengthy discussion limits the power of other team or board members. The second form is democratic leaders. These depict a characteristic of allowing all team or board members to make decisions in most matters of the institution or firm. It is essential where team views and consensus matters. However, due to its lengthy decision-making process, it consumes time and cannot apply to urgent issues. Lastly is the Laissez-faire leaders who allow all followers to do what they feels is right (Mindtools.com, 2006). This form of leadership is applicable in cases of a highly motivated and skills empowered team. Conversely, it could be and indicator for sluggishness from the leaders. Contingency theories have their basis on situations. They emphasize the need for leaders to adapt their leadership styles to meet the current conditions. In other words, they encourage leaders to have the quality for flexibility (Kringer & Seng, 2005, p.772). For example, in situations, which need critical decision-making, the leader can adopt autocratic leadership style. While in those, which need opinions from all team members, democratic form is inevitable. Transactional leadership theory entails total commitment and submission of team members to their leader. It operates by rewarding employees or team members for the quality of work they give (Mindtools.com, 2006). However, the team and the leaders set goals and objectives together, which must have all efforts geared towards their achievement. Failure to which employees get punishment or have their salaries controlled. It is a style, which limits employee creativity and innovation thus makes them underutilized. What do you think are the key factors, which have an impact on leaders in today’s business environment? Explain their possible impact on leaders’ effectiveness. Today's business has changed due to the high rate of globalization. For any leader to thrive in the high tech world, I think they must embrace qualities that prompt them to induce a swift response to megatrends (Johnston & Marshall, 2016). Racial conflicts are not yet extinct. Thus leaders must enhance their interpersonal skills to reduce any ethnic conflicts.It goes further for any leaders seeking to expand their businesses to the global arena. Successful cultural segmentation will require contemporary leaders who respect other nation's culture in the provision of services and implementation of marketing strategies. According to Rockstuhl et al., 2011 as cited by (Chuang 2013, p.3), global leaders must cultivate cultural quotient. An element characterizes leaders as aware and appreciative of diversity regarding culture, gender, race, religion and personal perspective towards various business aspects. Technological factors influence significantly on leaders since they require a change in the structures of business. For an entity to remain competitive, a leader has to keep on adapting to the lightning-speed technological advancement. The body they lead should also have the latest technology equipment to ensure a high rate of innovation (Johnston & Marshall, 2016). The Human Resource department too has to change the hiring and selection procedures to suit the new tech world. It calls for the use of resources especially financially to improve equipment often and train the employees. Another impact is customer needs and preferences (Business News Daily, 2014). Since they are the key players in earning competitive advantage, leaders must develop strategies to meet the daily changing needs. These factors motivate leaders to strive harder to give the best. However, they strain the available resources especially factors cutting on unpredictable market changes. Which of the leadership styles do you think would be best for managing a professional sports team? Justify your answer Managing a football team is not an easy task. I think the utilization of the leadership styles depends on the particular situations. Transformational leadership is ideal for sports because the end goal is to develop the players into leaders of tomorrow. For sport team members to perform well in the activities, they have to develop a sense of self-identity and self-awareness. It challenges the team members to develop a sense of ownership to their sports affiliation, which is essential to ensure productivity in their game competitions. It also enables the leader to identify the strengths and weaknesses of all members thus; he can assign their roles with this accordance (Lindebaum & Cartwright, 2010). Autocratic leadership style can also apply in sports management. Its utilization can be only in issues, which do not need the team members' opinions for example when changing players when a game is in progress. Participative style of leadership, commonly known as the democratic style adoption is critical in areas where the manager needs opinions from all other team members. These, for example, entail choosing a team sub-leader to represent the others. This is a decision requiring insights from other members since they know each other and can unanimously choose an ideal representative. Why is strategic leadership thought to have the same meaning as transformational leadership? In my opinion, transformational leadership is a constituent of strategic leadership. It is one way in which strategic leadership execution can happen. Strategic leadership entails the setting of the vision statement, missions, and objectives by the top leaders especially the Chief Executive officers. Strategic leadership utilizes both top-down and bottom-up basis (Stamp et al., 2007 p.483). It is an implication that both leadership styles embrace the need to include the team members of employees. They seek participatory approach in making concrete decisions. They both depict an element of respecting all employees and assuring them that they all matter and the company could not succeed any better without their efforts and presence.It does not apply to the top employees such as Human Resources Manager but also on to the considered lowly such as office messengers and receptionists. Both leadership styles are collaborative in that they view success as a collective action for all departments of firms. They recognize the uniqueness of all employees and delegate duties to them to enhance their innovative skills. They impart the feeling of importance and recognition among employees. This component cultivates motivation and enthusiasm to perform towards achieving the company goals and vision statement (Bass & Riggo, 2006). All efforts of these leadership styles consider the increasing rate of globalization. They define their goals about business climate since there are sudden paradigm shifts coupled with varying customer needs and preferences. How attentive are you to when others say, "Should" or "ought"? In most cases, I ensure that I practice careful listening as opposed to attentive talking. It is because, over time, it has come to my attention that what others say matters a lot. It is through hearing others especially employees when a leader realizes their needs and seeks out opinions on what possible solutions they need can alleviate them. Another important effect listening is the cultivation of transparency and trustworthy from any concerned members. It gives me the power to create positive influence with minimal opposition if any. The art of listening has cultured the habit if not judging others since everyone has a different perception of handling issues and is facing different issues both at work and at home. Therefore, attention to these puts an impulse on to seek participatory inputs on stress management techniques in accordance with each employee or concerned party needs. However, the decision I make regarding the "Should" or "ought" are highly calculated on the weight they carry in bringing positive change to the company, society of me as an individual. From the lectures, I have learned on the various types of leadership theories and styles. It has come to my attention that a good leader applies the various forms of leadership methods by the issues or situation at hand. It is because all situations have different periods for response and action. For example, urgent issues can have a higher affinity for success if a severe form of leadership is implanted. I have also learned that a good leader depicts high emotional intelligence and stands as the model for emulation by other employees (Lindebaum & Cartwright, 2010).This unit encourages me to increase my attention to listening skill since it helps one learn a lot from others. It helps me to reduce my zeal for doing most of the duties and adopting delegation since it is a strategy to empower subordinates. It gives them an opportunity to exploit their potential and discover their areas of expertise. As a result, it increases productivity and hence competitive advantage. Conclusion I can summarize that leadership is a dynamic aspect in management of business. Its determining factors range from globalization, technological advancement, market shifts and customer needs. This course has been a revelation in equipping me with the various leadership styles and their applications. Bibliography Bass, B.M. and Riggio, R.E., 2006. Transformational leadership. Psychology Press. Business News Daily. (2014). Are Your Leadership Skills Outdated? 4 Modern Workplace Challenges. [online] Available at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6279-modern-leadership-challenges.html [Accessed 11 Oct. 2016]. Chuang, S.F., 2013. Essential skills for leadership effectiveness in diverse workplace development. Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development, 6(1), p.5 Mindtools.com. (2016). Core Leadership Theories: Learning the Foundations of Leadership. [online] Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-theories.htm [Accessed 10 Oct. 2016]. Derue, D.S., Nahrgang, J.D., Wellman, N.E.D. and Humphrey, S.E., 2011. Trait and behavioral theories of leadership: An integration and meta‐analytic test of their relative validity. Personnel psychology, 64(1), pp.7-52. Goleman, D., Welch, J. and Welch, S., 2006. What Makes a Leader?. Audio Renaissance. Johnston, M.W. and Marshall, G.W., 2016. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge. Kriger, M. and Seng, Y., 2005. Leadership with inner meaning: A contingency theory of leadership based on the worldviews of five religions. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), pp.771-806. Lindebaum, D. and Cartwright, S. (2010). A Critical Examination of the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership. Journal of Management Studies, p.no-no. Stamp, G., Burridge, B. and Thomas, P. (2007). Strategic Leadership: An Exchange of Letters. Leadership, 3(4), pp.479-496. Read More