Transformational Leadership Issues - Essay Example

Transformational Leadership From a transformational leadership perspective, what are the likely benefits of gender balance in the leadership of anorganisation? If this balance does not exist, how might it be nurtured? Organization is a ‘structure’ with a ‘collage’ of workers including men and women doing their allocated work under the supervision of a leader. But, in most of the societies and in its business organizations including in some shipping companies, women are portrayed as the less-dominant sex, whose only purpose in life is getting married, performing the role of a docile housewife. But, this view is wrong because one may never know from whom a great idea or contribution could come. There have been many occasions of women leaders showing great leadership skills in different parts of the management. From different women Political leaders to the present day Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo Ltd, normally women leaders can bring in an element of compassion, understanding the fellow workers problems (particularly female), etc more than their male counterparts. “Women were more likely to be transformational leaders, defined as those who serve as role models, mentor and empower workers and encourage innovation even when the organization they lead is generally successful” (Eurekalert). This gender balance can also be nurtured by following correct ethics during recruitment and avoiding sexist reasons (like pregnancy period, their wardrobe, etc). Then, a kind of job reservation for women can also be implemented in the shipping companies, so that a percentage of jobs are compulsorily given only to the women. Finally, women should also be given time to meet their biological needs like pregnancy, by giving mass leave, which will result in reduced attrition rate and increased gender balance. 2. Is “emotional intelligence” more relevant to Transformational Leadership than to older and more autocratic leadership paradigms that focussed on leaders telling workers what to do? Why? The emotional intelligence (EI) is the key to the success of an organization because the leader by exhibiting the EI could involve the workers more productively in the different process of the organization like the decision making process, rather than telling them what to do or not. That is, during the process of decision-making, one of the approaches the leaders with high EI will try is, putting for discussion his/ hers thoughts among the workers including the lower rung of the shipping companies, and will involve them productively. This strategy will have unexpected at the same time favorable results, because one may never know from where, when and importantly from whom a great idea could come. . “Dont tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results” (Patton). If the workers involve themselves in the management process, they could provide valuable suggestions, and importantly will amplify their motivation and work even harder to actualize the given suggestions. That is, as the workers keep on participating in all the important decision making process, they will start to understand all the intricacies of organisation’s functioning. This way, they will utilize their minds to formulate effective objectives, plans & strategies, and importantly they will gain maximum confidence, because they will be happy with the fact, that they have contributed some thing purposeful to organization’ management process. So, emotionally intelligent transformational leader’s act of involving co-workers to play a part in the decision-making, but at the same time being the final authority is a good leadership trait. 3. How can shared identity and values among workers be of benefit to organisational performance? In organizations, the workers like the five different fingers in one’s hand will be different from one another having different characters, attitudes, education, background etc, etc…and the unison of these different humans under a single organization to reach a target is, and will always be a difficult proposition. As these different humans will have separate identity, they could create only a different working culture, resulting in minimum success. And, if a common working culture, if correctly said, the perfect, feasible and winnable working culture and thereby shared identity is ‘operationalised’, through out the organization, the organization will be a success story. The ‘script’ for this ‘success story’ can only be scripted, by an effective leader. The culture creation will start with the leader ‘imposing’ his/her assumptions, ideals, ideas, etc, as a form of organizational culture. And if all the employees follow or imbue that culture, it would become a common organizational culture. Once a common culture is imposed on the employees, they will have a common thing to hold on to. That is, with common culture and the resultant shared identity actualized by the leader, they will have to follow all the rules and regulations, work schedule, manner of working, etc, etc, like all the other employees, with no escape route. “He had to seduce the employees into a situation in which they had no choice but to rethink their identity” (Schein, 2004, p.306). Importantly, if many employees adopt this shared identity, they will surely form into a team and will also work as team, with the common identity and culture acting as the binding element “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority” (Blanchard). 4. Are there circumstances in which people’s shared identity and purpose could limit an organisation’s agility? Explain your answer. In an organization especially in the shipping industry, there will be no circumstances in which people’s shared identity and purpose could limit an organisation’s agility. That is, when an organization by merging different humans is going after a fixed target, the shared identity will only provide them clear vision and importantly agility. Because as any organization will be a hotbed of human activity, it could give rise to groups and subgroups or different identities, which will eventually share enough experience to create subcultures based on occupational, national, and uniquely historic experiences. This will be surely possible in the shipping industry, because of its transnational nature. Once such differentiation has taken place, the leader’s task is to find ways of coordinating, aligning, or integrating the different identities. So, building an effective organization and running it with agility is a matter of meshing the different identities and the leader should do this job, by encouraging the evolution of common goals, common language, and common procedures for solving problems. Through, shared identity, discipline can also be maintained, as any action by the employees that will be deviatory from the shared identity, will be clearly visible. The employees should be disciplined, if their thought process and action is detrimental to the organization. So, the leader by disciplining their workers in a consistent way, can form a work culture in which workers with shared identity will not any thing detrimental to the organization. ” Executives owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to tolerate non performing individuals in important jobs” (Drucker). 5. How would you expect a weak or ineffective Leadership Development Program to affect an organisation’s long-term behaviours and performance? The leadership development program can become ineffective if the current leader does not play his/hers part in developing new leaders. That is, even though, the no company including shipping companies will have a leadership development overtly, the program will be carried out within the organization, with the current leader being the deciding authority most times. But, some leaders with their certain actions can stunt the Leadership development program, affecting an organization’s long term behaviors and performance. A good leadership trait that can optimize the motivational levels of the employee is awarding individuals purely on merit, not on any other considerations. But, many leaders in many organizations overriding tried and trusted individuals; could give important posts and responsibilities to individuals who might be family members, friends, and persons with negative influence on the leader etc. If this practice is followed, it will create disenchantment and zero motivation among workers or potential leaders, and will show the leader in poor light. . “…low levels of worker motivation and commitment result in poor quality work... and poor balance of the flow of work” (Mabey, Salaman and Storey, 1998). In many companies, because of the ritual of awarding plum posts for his family members and shielding them when they committed mistakes, program to develop the leadership potential could get hampered. They were more loyal to each other than to the company. The, to get angry is human trait, but leader should get angry only when the situation demands it. Always getting upset and showing one’s anger on others including potential leaders, will only result in degradation of respect, one have for their leader. 6. • How can a transformational leader motivate people? • Are there particular styles of motivation that can help make a job “big enough” for a person? Explain your answer. The mind of the worker is the crucial thing that will make an organization work. Actually or biologically, it is mind of the worker, which will make the worker ‘work’. That is, only if the mind of the worker is filled with positive thought process, it will get motivated and make mental as well physical organs work for the benefit of the organization. The motivated mind will only ‘configure’ the mind as well as the physical body, to function in an optimum way or even ‘push’ them in a maximum way to derive beneficial outputs for the workers themselves as well as the organization. And there are some useful strategies which will optimize the motivation levels. These strategies can only be implemented by the leader. So, here is the list of few strategies that will motivate employees in any organization including the organizations in the shipping Industry. “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it” (Dwight) Allocating Rewards and Status to the deserving and apt candidates or workers is an important trait the leader should have. In shipping organizations, the workers do their duties for personal motivations like money, looking after their family, long distance travel, etc, but their motivation level will get a great boost if they receive rewards and promotions. Rewards and promotions to deserving and ‘success achieved’ workers will motivate them to give better results and motivate others also, to reach that status. So, leaders can quickly get across their own priorities, values, assumption, etc and importantly organization’s goals and profits by consistently linking rewards and punishments to the activities of the candidate. Another key leadership trait which is inter linked to the above trait is filling key positions with people who have the beliefs, values, and assumptions that are viewed by senior leaders as the necessary ones for the future growth and survival of the organization. “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” (Roosevelt) The approach, a leader could practice and which could be a considered a good leadership skill is providing a perfect and comfortable working environment for his workers. For that, the best option the leader should have is going for an open-office layout in the land operations of the shipping industry. That is, cubicles should be preferred instead of offices with doors because, in an office set up where team work will have prominent place, face to face interaction would bring in more ideas, than one calling other into a closed room and having a closed discussion. Also minimization of the use of status symbols such as private offices, special dining rooms for executives, and personal parking spaces should also be curbed down. This is one of the important needs because it will give even the lower staff, the feeling that all are treated equal, irrespective of the salary, experience etc. So, instead of special rooms, many conference rooms and attached kitchens should be setup to encourage people and interact comfortably. This environment will make the workers stay, at office, an enjoyable experience at the same time encouraging experience. In above discussed physical environment, the workers mental thought process will function effectively and thereby increase the motivational level of the workers. 7. Imagine you have been asked to prepare an information sheet that advises people on how to develop and improve their effectiveness as a transformational leader. What key points would you make? What areas of competence, values and behaviours are likely to be most relevant? From time immemorial, the success or failure of an organization or any other human activity depends on the role, the leader plays. And if the leader follows a set of actions, he/she can develop and improve their effectiveness as a transformational leader. The leader is the one who can lead humans under him/her to ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’. And, if the leader follows a set of traits he/ she can ‘sprinkle’ success on many lives, including the workers in his/her organization. The leadership traits should be visible and should be put to effective use when the leader, as a ‘builder’ builds a group and as a ‘founder’ launches an organization. The leader can build a group, by associating individuals who came from the same ‘stable’ like friends, work mates, family members etc and by recruiting individuals with talent, knowledge and attitude. That is, as Schein (2004, p.261) said, “... best way to build an organization was to hire very smart, articulate, tough, independent people and then give them lots of responsibility and autonomy”. With this ‘living’ group, and the material things like capital, machines, infrastructure, etc the founder cum leader embark on an organization. But, in most cases, a leader will normally take over or preside over or manage an existing organization. That is, the building or recruiting of the ‘group’ of workers as well as the installation of infrastructure, set up, etc, would have already taken place, with the leader only leading and managing the organization. This job of taking an existing set up and managing it, brings in set of challenges, which can be taken care by formulating certain strategies or solutions. That is, challenges can be overcome by implementing leadership programs or programs implemented by a leader. “Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people” (Rockefeller). The other important aspect, the organization and its leader should concentrate is, they should not stagnate and saturate. Schein (2004, p.418) pushes forward this idea by stating “that the leader of the future must be a perpetual learner”. Perpetual learner in the sense, the leader or the manager of any shipping industry should learn new levels of perception and acquire lot of insights for running an organization. As discussed in this paper, they should start by playing an important role in the development of a work culture, as mentioned above even inside the ships. Then, by getting involved in all the process of the organization, the leader should motivate oneself to learn new things and importantly motivate the employees working under him/her, thereby attaining emotional strength to absorb any anxieties caused by crisis. a good leader always has to be around to set a good example and to teach subordinates the right way to do things. “A leader leads by example not by Force.” (Sun Tzu). Then, they should involve others in the process of decision-making and also should award purely on merit. They should also show decisiveness, discipline and distinction to achieve success. So, Unison of humans with an urge to usher an organization into a leading ‘utopia’ will be a successful endeavor, if the leader of the organization show undaunted, unabated and effective conduct. And so, if the leader shows all the effective leadership traits or managerial skills mentioned here, the organization would have a ‘ubiquitous’ presence all over the world, literally. 8. a) You are in a position where you are leading change. How would you organise your presentation and any related activities to help ensure a useful change outcome? b) At the presentation a senior staff member raises some legitimate problems and concerns that cast doubts on this new company direction. How do you respond? What do you tell the Board? Why? In an organization, workers will normally be apportioned or “structurized” into departments for better arrangement and streamlining of work. These different departments can only boost an organization by working in unison, and thereby actualizing the opportunities on offer, so they could reach their targets and the estimated profits. So, ‘working in unison’ is the key, and the ‘key’ which opens up the minds of the workers working in the department, and aid ‘unison’, is communication. That is, communication between organization’s different departments or different ships or interactions between key people or even presentation to the people of the organization will only help the workers to work as a team and help them in coordinating and concluding the given work successfully. “Good two-way communication can help to build the psychological contract, in which employees feel valued by their employer, and the employer values (and is seen to value) employees’ contributions” (cipd). Among them, conducting a perfect and barrier Presentation will initiate many favorable events inside an organization. As mentioned in the scenario, in the case of organizations going for a change, the details of change has to be presented in an in-depth manner and also in an enticing manner. Inside a shipping organization, employees will normally be occupied in various duties, so, after arranging a free time, all the employees can be arranged in a common place for the presentation to proceed. The presenter for his/her part should take into account some important points, while organizing the presentation and also while delivering it. A presentation will be successful, only if it reaches the mind of the listeners through their ears. At the same time, only if the mind is ready or interested to ‘receive’ the contents of the presentation, it can order the ear to transfer the contents to the brain. Also, if the eye ‘sees’ the person who was speaking, in a positive light, it can interest the brain, which in turn makes the ear listen to the contents of the presentation even more. So, for the presenter to reach the mind of the audience, he/she has to make an all round ‘attack’ on the sense organs of the human body. So, apart from preparing a content rich presentation and delivering it, I have to focus on non-verbal communication and tone of the voice. That is, in the process of making the Presentation, facial expressions, eye contact, in total body language play a crucial part, as the audience receives the information presented by the presenter visually as well. So, to establish an initial and quick rapport with the audience in the college, I should maintain a pleasant smiling face. Then, I should speak in a casual and relaxed way, which I may normally do with a known person, but at the same time, I should maintain a formal tone and expression. Importantly, I should try to establish eye contact with as much audience as possible because, if I focus on just one section of the audience or focus my view some where else, I cannot establish a quick rapport with the audience, because the audience will feel that the speaker is not speaking to them. So, if I maintain continuous eye contact while speaking and presenting to the audience, it will convey the message or information in a more telling way. Likewise, if I raise and lower my tone of the voice according to the content of the presentation, it will have an immediate effect on the audience. That is, to stress certain important points of the speech, the tone can be used accordingly. To entice the listeners and make them attentive to my presentation and importantly to respond to the some legitimate problems and concerns raised by a senior staff member raises, I intend to plan the outline in a logical way. That is, as the topic or the purpose of the presentation is to make everyone in the audience, accept the proposed changes in the management, I like to begin the speech by discussing how to actualize the changes. While discussing about how to implement the changes, I will discuss the role of leaders in this scenario, and how leadership qualities have to be exhibited to actualize the changes. Actually, the leader of any organization should also be the harbinger of change inside the organization. After the leader in discussion with the management decides to go for a change, it will be the duty of the leaders to prepare or train the employees to adapt to the change. It is a crucial job because, if the employees are not trained well enough and thus were unable to work in the changed environment effectively, it will paralyze the whole organization. “In order to remain competitive, change is an inevitable part of organisational life. But resistance to change can trigger productivity paralysis through low morale and reduced output.” (Training zone). According to Maby, Skinner and Clark (1998), leader will have to put in extra efforts if the some groups of workers are not in favor of the change in the organization. “…groups of employees towards the lower end of the organizational hierarchy, who are arguably the least likely to be responsive to the attempt to produce an organizational culture.” (Maby, Skinner and Clark, 1998). These groups of workers have to be given extra attention by the leader, and be made part of the change, taking place inside the organization. That is, they should be given an introduction about the need for change, the process for changes and also should be updated about the further changes. “…give them a clear sense of purpose, an accurate explanation of their personal importance in the running of the organisation, and regular communication about the direction and performance of the business” (hrzone). So, the communication channels in the organization have to be always kept open. As communication between different departments and workers of different designations are of utmost importance for the effective management of an organization, it forms an integral part of functioning. To reach the concerned person any time, and to get the expected response very quickly, communication inside the organization in the form of meeting, informal discussions, presentations, etc have to be full optimized. As Warneka pointed out, Peoples positive emotions enhance their performance in an organization; discussing about the changes that is going to be implemented inside the organization even beforehand will keep the employees in a positive frame of mind. So, Presentation in this scenario will surely help in the establishment of an effective communicative structure which will bring unison and co-ordination in the organizations, leading to optimum productivity and profits. Reference: Blanchard, K. Leadership Quotes, viewed 18 February 2008 http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_leadership.html cipd. Employee communication, viewed 16 February 2008 http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/comconslt/empcomm.htm?IsSrchRes= 1 Drucker, P, Woopidoo. Inspirational Business Quotes, viewed 16 February 2008 http://www.woopidoo.com/business_quotes/leadership-quotes.htm Dwight, D. Inspirational Quotes for Business and Work: Motivation, viewed 16 February 2008, from http://humanresources.about.com/od/inspirationalquotations/a/quotes_motivate.htm Eurekalert 2003, Women most effective leaders for todays world, viewed 18 February 2008 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/nu-wme080403.php HR zone. HR tip: Controlling absence, viewed 16 February 2008. http://www.hrzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=176289&d=1063 Mabey, C, Skinner, D, and Clark, T (1998), Experiencing Human Resource Management, Sage, London Mabey, C, Salaman, G, and Storey, J (1998), Strategic Human Resource Management – A Reader, Sage, London Patton, G S, Leader values, viewed 18 February 2008 http://www.famous-quotes-and-quotations.com/leadership-quotes.html Rockefeller, J. D. Church Champions Update, Mar 13, 2001 Roosevelt, T, Quotations, viewed 18 February 2008 http://www.extensor.co.uk/quotations.html Schein, E. H. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd. ed. Jossey-Bass Training zone, On The Couch: Counselling at Work, viewed 14 February 2008. http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=177537 Tzu, Sun. (6th century BC). The Art of War. Warneka, T, Quotes about Organizations, viewed 18 February 2008 http://quotes.zaadz.com/topics/organizations Read More