Leadership applied to Human Resource Management - Coursework Example

The success of a company depends on the contribution of the human resources of a firm. Human capital is the most valuable asset of a company and it differentiates companies that are able compete in the marketplace from those who fail. Due to the importance of human resources companies must find ways to motivate and inspire their employees to get the maximum performance out of them. The best way to guide the employees of companies to do is expected of them utilizing leaderships within the organization. Leaderships is a special case of interpersonal influence that is able to get individuals and groups to do what the leader or manager wants done (Schermerhorn, Osborn, Hunt, 2003, p.286). This paper discusses different leadership styles along the concept of change management. Throughout human history there have been individuals who have stepped up and accomplish great things by leading people. In the 1960’s Martin Luther King was an inspirational leader that was instrumental in the civil rights movement. Organization such as Microsoft which was founded in 1984 started as small start-up companies, but thanks to the efforts and commitment of its leader Bill Gates Microsoft become the world largest software company. People that become leaders achieve such abilities through their efforts, self-study, formal education, training, and experiences (Clark, 2008). Leadership in itself is an organizational behavior topic that is taught at all major universities. There are different theories, concepts and styles associated with topic of leadership. Three theories that attempt to explain how leadership is developed are trait, behavioral and contingency theories. It is also important to know that leadership can manifest itself in formal and informal ways. Managers are typically the employees who job description requires them to display leadership shills, but sometimes a employee within a company may exert informal leadership by methods such as leading by example. The trait leadership perspective assumes that traits play a central role in differentiating between leaders and non-leaders or in predicting leader or organizational outcomes (Schermerhorn, et al., p.287). Some of these traits include self-confidence, energetic personality, tenacity, high intellectual and emotional intelligence among others. The behavioral theory perspective places a high level of importance on the impact leadership has on the performance of a company. The theory deals with the capability of a person to manipulate others by understanding human behavior. For example a leader is able to reach people emotionally and his persona enables the person to inspire trust in others. The person also has great verbal communication skills which the leader utilizes to provide clear instruction to the subordinates which clarifies what is expected of them. Situational leadership goes beyond trains and behavior that add the element of the scenario or situation which the leader is facing. Leadership is easier to exert in companies that have well structure rules which people know that they must follow. Situational leadership can occur without a person realizing that leadership skills may be manifesting themselves. I once worked in a start-up company dedicated to processing images. This firm was a human resource mess from the start. There was a poor managerial structure and the employees did not respect the authority figures because the company did not appreciate the effort of the employee and constantly paid everyone late. I was one of the employees that work with the firm from day one. I got real at our job tasks and people within the firm look up to me for my outstanding performance. The employees would come up to for advice on how to get better at our job and other informal advice about what was going on internally within the company. I ended up organizing an informal union. The bad working conditions allowed me to develop my leadership skills. This bad company with a serious lack of managerial talent and poor human resources practices shut down operation a year after its inception. Two other types of leaderships are charismatic and transformational leadership. Charismatic leadership involves creating a self-image so powerful that people are drawn to you and follow your messages and instruction due to the respect and attraction to what the charismatic leader stand for (Changingminds, 2009). In the recent United States presidential election charismatic leadership played a large role in the outcome. President Barack Obama had a charismatic leadership style that enabled him to drawn huge crowds and captivate the nation through his inspirational messages. Charismatic leaders typically seek position of power and gain acceptance from the masses due to their moral rightness and beliefs. Despite the effectiveness of this type of leadership style it does have some deficiencies that may negatively impact their effectiveness within an organizational setting. A charismatic leader is a person with a huge ego which may negatively impact their willingness to listen to other members of an organization. The actions and behaviors that allow charismatic leadership to exert itself include visual articulation, environmental sensitivity, and unconventional behavior (Schermerhorn, et al., p301). Transformational leadership occurs when a person is able to broaden and elevate the followers interest and makes these persons look beyond their own personal interest for the benefit the whole (Boje, 2002). Tranformational leadership can be divided into four dimensional aspects. These four dimensions are inspiration, intellectual stimulation, charisma, and individualized consideration. Inspiration works as motivational factor that allows employee within a company to get things done and achieve things they otherwise would not without the assistance of the leader. The insight of the transformational leader could inspire an employee to visualize how to improve the production line of a manufacturing firm. Charisma is an innate trait that captivates employees and makes believe in the strategies, ideas, and vision the leader has for the company. I once worked under a person which had great charisma. I respected his guidance and felt comfortable working for that individual. When this individual was transferred to a better position at another corporate location his successor did not possess the same charisma, due to that I simple never connected with my new boss. The individualized consideration dimension of transformational leaders is one of the most important qualities that make such a person so effective at leading the human resources of a company. The transformational leader goes out of his way to connect with each of his employees to make them feel they are an important part of the corporation. A business practice that requires the application of leadership for it to work is change management. Change management is a systematic approach to deal with change which occurs during a structure period of time and whose primary objective is achieving long lasting changes within an organization (Bnet, 2009). The leader or leaders of an organization must utilize a proactive approach to be able achieve change. Sometime the organization culture becomes a huge obstacle when manager attempt to achieve substantial changes in a company. Change management at times is the only alternative to solve human resources issues. For example a company with low employee morale needs radical change to occur in order to improve the situation. Low employee morale hurts the effectiveness and productivity of the employees of a firm. The leader must recognize the existence of the problem and communicate to the staff the problem that is occurring. He must develop a plan to deal with the issue and most importantly the leader must find a way for the employee to buy into his plan. Transformational leadership is possible one of the best styles a manager can have to effectively implement change management initiatives. If there is a lack leadership within an organization change management has low possibility of working. If there is an immediate need to make important changes in a company and the ownership team realizes that the managerial staff does not have the leadership skills necessary to achieve the tasks hiring outside consultants to help in the change management movement is a viable alternative. In the fast changing business environment of the 21st century organization need to stay on top of its human resources in order to get the most out of them. The best way to receive the best efforts out a staff is to have managers and leaders within the organization that inspire, motivate, and provide assistance to the employees so that together they can the organizational goals. There are different types of leadership styles which include transformational, situational, and charismatic leadership. These leadership styles can become effective tools that can be utilize by the authority figures in organization to achieve better results. Situational leadership is a style a person adapts to special set circumstances in a company so that the employees gain a special respect for the leader and follow this person. Leadership is also important to deal with human resource change management dilemma. Change management is a business practice that in conjunction with solid leadership can provide the assistance needed to turn an organization around by solving some inherent problems. Change management initiatives long term solutions that bring positive corporate results. References Bnet.com (2009). Change Management. Retrieved February 15, 2009 from http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/change+management.html Boje, D. (2000). Transformational Leadership. Retrieved February 14, 2009 from http://cbae.nmsu.edu/~dboje/teaching/338/transformational_leadership.htm Changingminds.org (2009). Charismatic Leadership. Retrieved February 13, 2009 from http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/charismatic_leadership.htm Clark, D. (2008). Concepts of Leadership. Retrieved February 14, 2009 from http://www.skagitwatershed.org/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., Osborn (2003). Organizational Behavior (8th). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Read More