What Constitutes Effective Leadership - Essay Example

Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction The success of any organization depends on the effectiveness of its leader whose main task is to steer the company to greater heights. Debate has been going on as to what constitutes effective leadership but all agree that effective leaders do possess certain qualities or attributes. The style or model of leadership used by the leaders also has great potential of influencing organizational success. This can either be a power model, transformative model or administrative model. Leaders also do need to have certain competencies and skills that make them able to perform their tasks hence become effective. While some leaders do have the potential to influence people towards a common objective, these skills are essential and include such skills as communication skills, interpersonal skills, negotiation skills, problem-solving skills among others. In this essay, I will analyze the transformative leadership theory and how effective it can be utilized in public service. Stanfield (2009 p. 5) defines leadership as “directing behavior of others towards accomplishment of some common objective.” Every organization has a goal to accomplish and the role of the leader in this case, is to influence others (employees) towards the achievement of this goal. Effective leadership in this case, depends on how well the leader is able to influence the followers and this can be measured by achievement of organizational goal. Although there are various leadership models that can be used by effective leaders, the most effective is the transformational model. The power model seeks to gain compliance by requiring others to achieve the goals defined by the leader while the administrative model works within the existing frameworks to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the organizational process. As such, the power model according to Trompenaars and Voerman involves “attainment, exercise and retention of power” (2009, p. 13). Leaders engage themselves in competition to gain more power hence influence and are thus not concerned with achievement of goals. Success in this case, is defined in terms of power. This leads to rivalry and conflicts between groups and factions within the organization hence are not preferred. The administrative model on the other hand, aims at finding satisfactory solutions to problems rather than the best solution and is based on the belief that complete rationality is impossible (Terry, 1998). Furthermore, it involves compliance to strict rules and regulations and following established systems hence little room for creativity. Even though it ensures efficiency and effectiveness, it is most suitable for bureaucratic organizations like schools. The transformative model is thus the best as it embraces creativity and innovation thus driving change management effectively. The transformative model best explains what leadership means. The model was developed by James MacGregor Burns in 1978 and extended by Bernard M. Bass in 1985. For Burns, transformative leadership involves leaders and followers making each other to advance higher level of motivation while for Bass, it is defined by the impact it has on followers as it inspires trust, respect and admiration for the leader (Burns 1978; Bass, 1985). This model views the leader as a transformer who “raises the level of consciousness about importance of goals or action of followers, encourages subordinates to transcend self-interest for the good of the group and also to focus on higher-order needs” (Sperry, 2002, nap). The leader is thus supposed act a role model and act cooperatively with the group to achieve organizational transformation or change. It is based on four elements often regarded as the 4 I’s: idealized influence (II), inspirational motivation (IM), intellectual stimulation (IS) and individual consideration (IC) (Bass, 1985). II refers to leader as the role model; IM is the team spirit and giving purpose and meaning to followers. The IS entails creativity and motivation achieved by embracing the diversity of individuals and their talents and appreciating them rather than criticizing them. IC is the mentoring function of leaders and also attending to individual needs and their self-development. The model has a lot of strengths that make it effective. At first, it has the ability to inspire followers through well articulated and clear vision, mission and goals. This ensures followers know which direction they are heading thus eliciting commitment and motivation. This vision is set with participation of followers hence it becomes more acceptable and motivating as they feel they own it. Since the leader is passionate about his work, this makes the rest of the group feel energized (Burns 1978). The leader continuously challenges the status quo hence is able to encourage creativity and innovation in followers. This is essential for organizational as well as personal development. Furthermore, the leader keeps the lines of communication open hence is bale to share useful ideas with followers leading to personal growth (Cherry, 2014). Bass (1985) argues that transformational leadership leads to higher levels of performance and satisfaction because leaders hold positive expectations for followers, believing they can do their best. This in turn inspires, empowers and stimulates them to exceed normal performance levels. Moreover, it also fulfills their personal needs hence motivation and increased productivity. Since individual aims are aligned to organizational aims, the workers feel valued and know how their work fits into the organization hence job satisfaction (Kotlyar & Karakowsky, 2007). The weakness of this leadership model is that it forgets some tasks need to be done individually rather than cooperatively. It can also be vulnerable to resistance in the organizations especially those who like maintaining the status quo as they fear changes will affect their job security (Stanfield, 2009). Moreover, the influence of the leader is often based on charisma hence not easy to lead if such intrinsic quality is lacking. If a leader makes mistake, he loses influence since he acts as a role model for followers. Ethical leadership at all times is thus essential. It can also be demotivating to those who are not creative or whose work is not recognized. Cherry (2014) argues that the model lacks established administrative organs of formal system of rules. Besides, it requires participation of large number of allies with various reform and non-reform goals of their own. The transformative leader possesses various characteristics that him or her successful. The leader is passionate about his work. He is also enthusiastic, energetic, inspirational, creative, innovative, and charismatic and possesses good interpersonal skills to be able to hold the team together (Burns, 1978; Bass, 1985). The leader also has the ability to inspire trust and respect. The leader focuses on a certain area and sets goal-directed activity to monitor and assess progress. The leader derives the goals clearly from overall mission of the organization. The leader must also model positive behavior for others to emulate and put more emphasis on human resources in areas such as staff empowerment, staff development and hiring process. Another characteristic is the ability to understand the strengths and weaknesses of followers so as to align them with tasks that enhance their performance (Riggio, 2009). The leader can enhance effectiveness by combining his qualities with those embedded in the power and administrative model such as ability to control resistance by use of power influence and being decisive and directive. Also being compliant with procedural requirements. These characteristics are vital in enabling the leader to guide, educate, inform, and influence others to manage change in the field of public service. As a guide, the leader is able to derive goals from organizational mission and direct followers towards achieving those goals. In other words, he is able to set direction and be good role model for others to follow. As an educator, the leader has good communication and interpersonal skills and can inspire trust from followers hence making it easy for them to understand and believe in what he is saying. These skills also help the leader to act as source of information not forgetting his creative nature. Open communication channels help workers in public service to gain important information and also give information to the leader. Charisma is very crucial especially in managing change in public service institutions which are often bureaucratic. A charismatic leader is respected and trusted by followers hence can explain to them clearly the importance of change and its impact hence influence them to accept the changes (Stanfield, 2009). Transformative leadership means influencing people to achieve communal goals (Burns 1978) while ethical leadership is achieving those goals in a way that is fair and just to employees, suppliers, customers, communities and shareholders (Northouse 2013 :424). Ethics is all about who the leaders are; that is, their character and actions. Since the role of leaders is to influence followers and to establish values for the organization (organization culture), ethical leadership is crucial. The main tenets of ethical leadership include: respect for others, service to others, justice, honesty and building communities (Northouse 2013: 430-436). These tenets guide ethical leadership in various ways. Burns (1978) argues that the interaction of leaders and followers raises ethical behavior and character of both. As such, leaders need to be ethical so as to help the follower achieve higher ethical standards by embracing values such as equality, justice and liberty. Furthermore, treating others with dignity and respect and respecting their views is key to effective leadership in the public service. This allows diversity of opinions hence good work climate. An effective leader also is one who is concerned with subordinates well being and by utilizing the tenet of service to others, the leader can accomplish this (Cherry 2014). An altruistic leader mentors, empowers and builds teams leading to effectiveness. Justice and fairness are also vital for an effective leader in the public service. Their work is to ensure all stakeholders receive services equally hence transparency and openness are required. In case differential treatment is required of subordinates, such should be logical and reasonable and whistleblowers should be given adequate protection (Northouse 2013). Honesty is key to effectiveness. It helps build trust between the leader and followers hence mutual relationship. The leader should thus not give promises he/she cannot keep, suppress obligations, or evade accountability. They should be consistent in what they believe, think, say and do as well as developing goals which are acceptable to all in the organization. Effective leadership also entails embracing principles of diversity, equality and inclusion. Diversity entails recognizing and valuing individual differences since individuals are unique while inclusion entails allowing all to services regardless of gender, race, religion, or any other classification hence everyone in the organization feels valued (Stanfield, 2009). According to the department of Human Services (2014) the principles of diversity and inclusion entail ensuring employees are able to be the best they can, treating them fairly and with respect, acknowledging that all are responsible for workplace diversity. There is need to incorporate these tenets into effective public service leadership in order to create an inclusive work environment and also comply with laws especially the Public Service Act of 1999. It also ensures non-discrimination in the workplace where everyone is appreciated and valued. References Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance. N. Y: Free Press. Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. N.Y: Harper and Raw. Cherry, K (2014). What is Transformational Leadership? About.com. Retrieved may 30, 2014 from http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/transformational.htm Kotlyar, I., & Karakowsky, L. (2007). Falling Over Ourselves to Follow the Leader. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, Vol. 14 (1) pp.38-49. Riggio, R.E. (2009, March 24). Are you a transformational leader? Psychology Today. Retrieved May 30, 2014 from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/200903/are-you-transformational-leader Stanfield, A.W (2009) Defining Effective Leadership: Lead in Whatever You Do. New York: Routledge Terry, LD (1998). Administrative Leadership, Neo-managerialism, and the Public Management Movement. Public Administration review, 58(3), pp 194-200. Trompenaars, F and Voerman, E (2009). Servant Leadership Across Cultures: Harnessing the Strength of the World’s Most Powerful Management Philosophy. 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