Leading in a Changing World - Coursework Example

Leading in a changing world

Leadership and ethics

“Ethical Leadership is defined as "the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement and decision-making"… [and] the evidence suggests that ethical leader behaviour can have important positive effects on both individual and organizational effectiveness” (Rubin et al 2010, p.216-17).

There are two principle areas of ethics, the internal factors, (i.e., beliefs and values) and the external factors, like, behaviours and actions that are required for decision making. In order to demonstrate the complex concept of ethical leadership, the 4-V Model has been chosen. The 4-V Model includes all the four aspects of Ethical Leadership, values, voice, vision and virtue (Branson, et al., 2014).

A leader needs to be well aware of his or her core values which help him or her in developing a vision, which is to be put into action by the followers. In order to channelize the vision into action, the leader uses his or her personal and interpersonal relations with the followers. Finally comes virtue to be fair to all the employees and helping them to achieve their potential, which not only helps them in their career development but also helps the company to obtain higher profits with more productive labour. The viability of the vision is tested when the vision is put into service through the art of politics (Polis) prevailing in the organisation including effective communication. Renewal refers to the continuous evaluation of the consistency between values and vision. Transformational leadership is inclined to the principle of ethical leadership, as it incorporates leadership qualities with inspiration, vision, fair treatment and empowerment.

Figure 1: The 4-V Model of Ethical Leadership

(Source:  Ghuman, 2010)

In order to illustrate the application of 4-V Model of ethical leadership, Microsoft has been chosen. Bill Gates realised the importance of ethical leadership after facing market issues during globalisation. He undertook the journey of discovering his core values, passion, intensity and tenasity, which helped to visualise an improved world with reduced inequity. He used his effective communicating skills to voice his visualization to the management concentrating all his resources to make the world a better place. For example, he works for family foundation which is a charitable trust. Ethical leadership has helped Bill Gates in maintaining the market competitiveness of Microsoft during the phase of Globalisation, when many of the competitors of Microsoft stained their brand’s image through unethical practices (Entrepreneur, 2015). Apple, one of the global competitors of Microsoft, sacrificed the value of humanity when it established ‘sweat factories’ where workers suffered from inhuman working conditions, mostly located in the developing and underdeveloped countries (BBC News, 2014). However, on the other hand Bill Gates’ ethical leadership enabled stronger market position for Microsoft in the global arena.

Ethical leadership has a profound impact on the employees, which in turn helps the organisation to perform better. If a leader treats his or her employees with fairness and honesty; then employees develop a trust in the vision of the leader, which facilitates ready acceptance of the authority making him or her more credible. An effective two-way communication is the key behind the success of ethical leadership. It strengthens the process of decision-making by incorporating the employee’s point of view, as they are the ones performing the task.

Q.1: Does ethical leadership really matter?

Answer: Yes, when leaders show compassion towards the employees, they find themselves more accountable to the organisation and are ready to put 100% effort in completing their work. This in turn, benefits the organisation as it is able to achieved reduced attrition and better quality products from highly productive loyal employees.

Q.2: Does ethical leadership influence only ethics related behaviours or has impact on other outcomes?

Answer: Ethical leaders are philanthropic and take responsibilities infusing a sense of security to the employees making them work beyond their assigned duties.

Q.3: How does ethical leadership affect the employee engagement?

Answer: An ethical leader; through personal and interpersonal relationship, along with an effective communication can engage employees more towards their job. The employees achieve higher job satisfaction and the organisation is rewarded with more productive labour and lower turn-over cost.

• The challenge of managing diverse team

“Research has consistently shown that diverse teams produce better results, provided they are well led. The ability to bring together people from different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures, and generations and leverage all they have to offer, therefore, is a must-have for leaders” (Ibarra and Hansen 2011, p. 71).

Inclusive leadership is suitable for managing a diverse team, its practices help in energising and motivating employees (Hollander, 2012). They feel more engaged to the organisation because their leaders pay attention to their ideas. As all the employees are involved in the strategy and decision making, they develop a sense of responsibility for the future of the organisation and under these circumstances, they can ignore their varied interest so that they can work to earn more knowledge, growth and bring success to the concerned company.

When the members come from different cultural and geographical backgrounds, there is bound to be barriers in terms of language and time-zones. For example, while making a business plan for a Multinational corporation (MNC), a leader will be required to get a personnel having knowledge of the markets where the company will be doing business, like market analyst from China, UK, USA, West Indies., etc. Then there is a chance that their different cultural background may disrupt formulating a joint plan and a video conference can be difficult due their time time-zone differential.

Figure 2: Role of Management in the Performance of a Diverse Team

(Source: Kearney, et al., 2009)

On the other hand, a number of benefits can also be listed in favour of diverse team. For a diverse, team it becomes easier to understand and cater to the varied needs of the community. As inclusive leadership provides greater participation of all the members in decision making, it makes the employees more productive. As the workers are engaged in the running the business of an organisation, there are lower turnovers saving a substantial amount of cost that might have been needed to fill up those vacancies. When workers from diverse cultural backgrounds work together, there is more creativity in terms of perception and it helps in harnessing improved performance through greater innovation. Inclusive leadership encourages subordinates to learn from each other, rather than arguing with each other.

Now- a-days, with the advent of globalisation, it is all the more important for the leaders to learn about the art of managing a diverse team; failure of which can result in ruining the productivity of the organisation. In some cases, the company might have to encounter expensive lawsuits, persecution and other discrimination claims.

According to inclusive leadership practitioners, inclusion of women in the top management helps in attaining successful performance for any particular organisation. There are few examples where women leadership is encouraged like, work environment may be inhospitable to females, and imposition of differential standards in terms of performance in case of women, management being succumbed to gender prejudices may prohibit a woman’s accent to the top management (Hollander, 2012).

Johnson & Johnson has made it clear that they would like to pursue inclusive leadership as they are required to cater to the diverse population of varied countries. The company has given enough opportunities to women leadership by incorporating female employees in almost all the departments like, science and technology, math, engineering, manufacturing and designing. Johnson & Johnson arranges for a training session for 200 of its global leaders. These training sessions are dedicated towards elimination of unconscious bias in the process of decision making. The CEO and the Chief Diversity Officer of Johnson & Johnson are in the favour of diversity and inclusion, so that the organisation is able to provide enough opportunities for all of its employees where they can share the credit of growth and success of the company (DiversityInc, 2016).

A leader becomes the most important figure while managing a diverse team, as it can bring out the best of each member. Some team members may be resistant to change, so the leader needs to break their individual mind blocks in order to benefit from working together with their unique cultural backgrounds.

Q.1: How can I help my team to value the concept diversity instead of blaming for failures?

Answer: From a leader’s perspective, if he or she is able to organise sessions in which members are encouraged to treat each other with respect, allow all the members to express their point of views and penalty for harassment and discriminating practices, then diversity can benefit instead of becoming a hindrance.

Q.2: How to solve troubles in a diversified team?

Answer: The leader needs to improve his or her ability and get to the root of trouble, so that it can also prevent any future occurrence of such unfortunate incidents. More knowledge about each member’s cultural background helps in building trust and respect.

Q.3: How to solve time-zone differential problem?

Answer: The Company can hold meetings across all its establishments so that it can reflect the structural as well as cultural uniqueness of each location.

• Most effective Leadership & Management Styles & approaches

Management can be defined as, a body within a business organisation which looks after its coordination, organisation, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation, in order to achieve common goal or objective. Leadership is the ability to make other follow an individual. It deals with guiding and influencing a group of people (team). These two concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are certain differences as well and these subtle differences raises questions like, “Which personal style should managers adopt to ensure success? What is the most effective approach to managing the work of subordinates? These questions have been extensively researched and debated over the last century, and while the general consensus has moved away from ‘command and control’ to management and leadership towards more consultative and participative approaches, there is no single ideal, as the best approach may vary according to circumstances and individual characteristics” (CMI, 2013).

Leadership is an essential component of a manager’s job role, but to what extent the manager needs to play the role of a leader depends on the circumstances. Some of the organisations have started using job designation like, “team leader”, but actually it is the role of managing a team rather than fulfilling a position. If the situation is correct, any individual can behave as a leader in an organisation. For example, each county in the European Union (EU) gets six-months time to be the leader. The Presidential County does not behave as the ‘manager of the EU’, only executes the responsibility of maintaining diplomatic relations within and outside EU. The task of the manager is concerned with obtaining the desired objective which has been envisioned by the leader.

Management consists of a transactional relationship; whereas, leadership is more of an emotional appeal. Managers are given the responsibility of achieving short-term goals; while, a leader is more concerned with the long-term growth of an organisation and it is a leader’s guidance which keeps the managers and employees in the right direction of transforming his or her vision into reality.

Figure 3: The Relationship between Management and Leadership

(Source: Srivastava, et al., 2006)

Transformational leadership can be identified as the most appropriate leadership approach in the currently changing competitive business environment. It provides fair chance and opportunities to all employees, so that the work environment is conducive towards skill formation and delegation of work (Lang, 2011). The four I’s of transformational leadership are idealised influence (to build trust and confidence), inspirational motivation (to achieve performance), intellectual stimulation (encouraging creativity and breaking prejudice) and individual consideration (to monitor and provide guidance). This invites for a greater degree of participation from the employees in decision making, rather than a “command and control” format of leadership. Effective communication between leaders and subordinate is an integral part of transformational leadership, which fulfils both, the needs of the organisation and team. This ensures employees’ commitment towards their company. They will even be ready to do excess of their assigned job role for betterment of the company (Menguc, et al., 2007). This in turn brings us to agree with the argument suggested by the CMI in 2013, because with greater participation from the employees helps in easier implementation of the strategies ensuring more productive and dedicated employees who are working towards success of the organisation.

The success of Apple, one of the global market leaders in electronics owes it to Steve Jobs’ intellectual, stimulation which encouraged the employees to invest their effort in modernization and creativity. Bill Gates is the wealthiest man in the world and his belief in transformational leadership has brought Microsoft to its present status. According to him, leaders should be those who can empower others (Rogak, 2013).

I am influenced by the idea of transformational leadership as it gives ample opportunities to the employees so that they can freely express their opinion. My leader should guide me through various tasks which will build more confidence and develop my problem solving skill. If my leader practices transformational leadership then it becomes easier for me to approach him and her in case of confusion and conflict of ides. This enhances my job satisfaction and hence, my productivity.

Manager while handling a team needs to be cautious of many things. It is their leadership skills which help them to deal with complexities. The manager needs to be impartial and respect the suggestions of the employees. This will not only reduce the chances of conflict but will also ensure a greater job satisfaction. When the manager is implementing the strategy formulated by his or her subordinates, it yields to better results as they are readily accepted. Regular training sessions are also arranged, so that the employees are updated in terms of changing technology and market conditions. Command and control format can lead to fear and unproductiveness; while, participative approach increases efficiency.

Q.1: Can leaders be managers?

Answer: If a leader is ready to undertake the short-term responsibility of monitoring and evaluation, then a leader can act as a manager.

Q.2: How can I make an introvert employee to come forward and express his or her views?

Answer: You need to arrange for interactive “brain-storming” sessions and ask a direct question to the desired employee. Your encouragement and appreciation can help the concerned employee to come out of his or her inhibitions.

Q.3: Is transformational leadership the only solution for the present age companies?

Answer: Any leadership approach which gives scope to employee participation can be a solution to deal with the complexities of the changing business environment. Transformational leadership is one such example.

• Leadership & Change

“Change is nothing new and a simple fact of life. Some people actively thrive on new challenges and constant change, while others prefer the comfort of the status quo and strongly resist any change. It is all down to the personality of the individual and there is little management can do about resistance to change” (Mullins and Christy, 2010, p. 753).

It is people’s perception towards a challenge that makes them prone to change. If a person is comfortable with an unforeseen risk, he or she can support change. In some cases management persuasion also fails to amend individual perception regarding a structural change in an organisation. When employees are not ready to change, they may feel pessimistic about their own future in the organisation. It reduces their ability to complete a task with efficiency. It may give rise to conflicts between the group of workers who are ready to change and those who are reluctant to incorporate structural reorganisation.

The managers are in a position to propose a change, but in order to ease the process of implementation; they need to think about a number of factors. Firstly, the specification of a change such as organisational restructuring, leveraging numerous projects including cancellation, layoffs. The employees need to be prepared for such radical changes. Secondly, the points of impact like how the change will affect the employees and stakeholders due to stalling and cancellation of projects, etc. Thirdly, the manager needs to be aware of the extent of the impact of change which is helpful in evaluating its success. For example, in case of any layoffs, the employee suffers from both emotional and financial loss. To lessen the pain of a change, the manager needs to incorporate empathy and compassion while considering different aspects of a reorganisation.

In order to further guide the manager on implementation of any change, Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model can provide a better understanding. According to the model, employees can be convinced to change if they are made to understand the urgency of the change (Kotter and Cohen, 2012). The steps involved in the model are as follows:

• Amplify the urgency to change.
• While building a team, the idea of structural reorganisation needs to be incorporated.
• Efficient communication to formulate and initiate a change.
• Employees’ empowerment to absorb the change.
• Formulation of short term goals.
• Persistency on promoting a change.
• Permanency of the change.

This is an easy model that can help in guiding a manager towards the way in which a change can be implemented. Here the main focus is on the process of implementation rather than actual change which can make the transition easier.

When Gil Amelio was appointed the CEO of the company he made restructuring of National Semiconductors National Semiconductor was facing hard times and the change proposed by Amelio turned the situation around for the company, as they accompanied less risky initiatives (CBS News, 2009). In 2004, Shell was facing oil reserve crisis, when the new Chairman, Jeroen van der Veer, introduced a series of structural changes to the company affecting more 80 Shell operating units around the world. The strategy failed due the lack of focus and non-incorporation of employees at all levels (CMI, 2015).

The above examples are the evidence that if the management can convince the employees to support the company in implementing a change, then there is a high chance that such changes will bring successful outcomes. The workers need to be communicated with and their doubts regarding the risks; needs to be cleared while formulating a change, as in the event of resistance the company might have to encounter failure.

Q.1: How to persuade the employees for a change in the event of resistance?

Answer: The manager needs to address each concern of the employees separately to win their support.

Q.2: Shell was able to convince the board then why the strategy failed?

Answer: The new Chairman was able to only convince the board and not the employees. Efficient communication was required to be transpired through each of the operating units; which was not done, due to which the structural transformation failed.

Q.3: How to locate resistance prior to it occurrence?

Answer: The manager can identify the seed of resistance by developing interpersonal relations with the employees, frequent checks regarding performance of workers.

• My Vision of Leadership

After going through various literatures on leadership, transformational leadership attracted my attention. Transformational leadership invokes a participative approach from the employees in decision making. It calls for a perfect environment which supports skill development, learning and delegation. In simple words, transformational leadership provides an ample scope to adapt to the changing business environment. This format of leadership makes achieving objectives much easier through correct motivation of the employees. Employees get involved in all levels of planning. This not only helps in ready acceptance of the strategies formulated by the leader, but also provides efficiency in running the business. As employees feel accountable to the success of the company, they try to put more than 100% o effort in their assigned tasks. They feel engaged to the organisation and hence, the company saves on the turn over cost. Frequent interactive sessions can help the company in eliminating conflicts.

Bill Gates is a name that requires no introduction; he is the wealthiest man in the world. He had also faced difficulties in the prime of his life. He had started a business which failed and caused Gates to drop out of Harvard. In spite of the failure of Traf-O-Data, his vision and passion for computers guided him in starting Microsoft. His belief in himself and the ability to pursue his vision led him to success; but according to him, without any cooperation from all the employees, he would not have been in his current status. He is a true transformational leader; he tried to develop interpersonal relations with the employees through motivation and support. He is well known for providing an attractive remuneration to his employees.

Bill Gates’s ability to observe opportunity even in the darkness of failures can attract the attention of many, just like mine. However, it was some of the leadership traits in Gates that made him a successful leader and it is a process of gradual development of skill. It requires not only improvement of the present skill but also developing new qualities. In this regard, help can be taken from friends. When I had raised this concern to my friends about helping me to discover and develop leadership qualities they readily helped. The feedback that I had received from my friends enlisted a few leadership qualities in me like, intelligence, skill and competency, determinant, sociability and truthfulness which can be enhance my approach towards leadership.

Apart from the above listed qualities, there are some other qualities that I want develop during my MBA course like, negotiating, team building, inspirational and goal setting skills. Communication plays a very important role in negotiating business deals and gaining confidence of the stakeholder. It is also important in breaking reluctance towards change. An effective leader is required to motivate his employees during hardships. This helps the employees in feeling valued to the organisation and performing their best for the interest of the company, which in turn helps in saving turn-over costs. As a leader in a firm, I would also have to be able to identify potential workers, so that a strong team can be built because weakness in team is the characteristic of dysfunctional leadership. I need to develop foresightedness, so that during risk taking, my vision regarding the success of the project will yield successful returns upon invested capital. The strength in my vision is the guiding force for the team and I need to be more detail oriented so that there no pullbacks while implementing the same. Clear vision will also help me in communicating the details to my followers, so that proper implementation can be secured. I would like to incorporate all the beneficial attributes of transformational leadership in my approach while addressing my employees.

Q.1: Greater participation from employees may make them too proud to accept authority, how to solve it?

Answer: The open platform provided by the leader asks the employees for their opinion, but the power of accepting the same lies with the leader. He or she can use this platform to convince them about the viability of a particular strategy.

Q.2: Can owning money indicate successful leadership?

Answer: Attaining successful business outcome from a particular policy implementation can define potential leadership. In the current world, money can be treated as a measuring medium of success as it is an intangible attribute.

Q.3: What Professional help can take to become a successful leader?

Answer: I am currently pursuing MBA and my courses are in tune with developing leadership skills but firstly, you need to identify the traits present in you so that professional and institutional training can further develop them.

• Reference list

BBC News, 2014. Apple 'failing to protect Chinese factory workers'. [online] Available at: < http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30532463 > [Accessed 20 May 2016].

Branson, C.M. and Gross, S.J., 2014. Handbook of Ethical Educational Leadership. London: Routledge.

CBS News, 2009. Why Change Management Fails. [online] Available at: < http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-change-management-fails/ > [Accessed 21 May 2016].

CMI, 2015. The 5 Greatest Examples of Change Management in Business History. [online] Available at: < http://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2015/july/the-5-greatest-examples-of-change-management-in-business-history > [Accessed 21 May 2016].

DiversityInc, 2016. Why It’s On The List. [online] Available at: < http://www.diversityinc.com/johnson-johnson/ > [Accessed 20 May 2016].

Entrepreneur, 2015. How Bill Gates Became a Leadership Legend. [online] Available at: < https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250607 > [Accessed 20 May 2016].

Ghuman, K., 2010. Management: Concepts, Practice & Cases. Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

Hollander, E., 2012. Inclusive leadership: The essential leader-follower relationship. London: Routledge.

Ibarra, H. and Hansen, M., 2011. Are you a collaborative leader?. Harvard Business Review, 89(7/8), pp.68-74.

Kearney, E., Gebert, D. and Voelpel, S.C., 2009. When and how diversity benefits teams: The importance of team members' need for cognition. Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), pp.581-598.

Kotter, J.P. and Cohen, D.S., 2012. The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Lang, M., 2011. Transformational Leadership: Fundamentals - Models - Differences - Impact on employees. Munich: GRIN Verlag.

Menguc, B., Auh, S. and Shih, E., 2007. Transformational leadership and market orientation: Implications for the implementation of competitive strategies and business unit performance. Journal of Business Research, 60(4), pp.314-321.

Mullins, L. J. and Christy, G., 2010. Management & Organisational Behaviour. . Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Rogak, L., 2013. THE IMPATIENT OPTIMIST - BILL GATES IN HIS WORDS. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Rubin, R.S., Dierdorff, E.C. and Brown, M.E., 2010. Do ethical leaders get ahead? Exploring ethical leadership and promotability. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20(02), pp.215-236.

Srivastava, A., Bartol, K.M. and Locke, E.A., 2006. Empowering leadership in management teams: Effects on knowledge sharing, efficacy, and performance. Academy of management journal, 49(6), pp.1239-1251.