Leading in a Changing World - Essay Example

?Leading in a changing world Leading in a changing world Topic one The ability to bring together people of different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures and generations and leverage on their abilities can only be attained with the right leadership. Leadership can be defined as the processes of influencing and inspiring the individual efforts towards the attainment of a shared goal. Globalisation has led to diverse and multicultural workforce thus leaders have the responsibility of understanding the unique needs of each employee in order to effectively satisfy the changing needs of the customers. The leadership styles should be capable of responding to changes in customer demands, economic changes, political changes and changes in the expectations of the employees (Judge and Piccolo 2004: 755-768). According to the competency framework of leadership development, leaders are expected to deliver, build and drive organisational success. Leaders should create a plan and make decisions with confidence while managing ambiguity (Ibarra & Hansen 2011: 71). The leader should also drive change, innovation and make initiatives that unlock new business opportunities in order to satisfy customer changing needs. A leader should coach and mentor the subordinates while encouraging feedback and performance evaluation. Adair’s leadership model is an action-centered leadership model that asserts that leadership can be applied like a tool and concentrates on the ability of the leader to inspire a shared vision. (Adair 1973). According to Adair (2003: 04), the leader should provide direction, build effective teams and set an example for the followers. This model asserts that the leadership style will depend on the character of the leader and unique situation including the needs of the followers and level of task differentiation. The leader should build the team spirit, ensure team cohesiveness and establish proper communication channels (Ibarra & Hansen 2011: 75). Transformational leadership model also provides the guidelines of leading in a changing business environment (Judge and Piccolo 2004: 755-768). This model of leadership requires the leader to intellectually stimulate the ideas of the followers through articulating a clear vision and expressing confidence (Mullins, 2010). Individualised influence and inspirational motivation of the leader ensures that the employees express their creativity. In addition, the leader acts as an example thus modeling the behaviour of subordinates. On the other hand, the model fails in supporting the unique cultural background of the diverse workforce since employees have different norms and values depending on their cultural norms (Judge and Piccolo 2004: 755-768). The above challenge can be addressed by ensuring that the leader gains the trust of followers and cordial working environment in order to support teamwork (Mullins, 2010: 378). Another leadership style is the situational leadership style that combines task behaviour and relationship behaviour. According to this theory, there is no one acceptable model of leadership. Ideally, this model asserts that leaders should change their leadership approach depending on the unique tasks and relationship with followers (Lord and Brown2001: 133-152). The model is acceptable since leaders need to cultivate enabling relationship with the followers. In addition, some tasks may be clearly defined thus requiring minimal leader intervention. In the changing business environment, leaders will be required to change their leadership approach depending on the underlying situation such as the level of relationships, the degree of task differentiation, the use of controls such as rewards and punishments in the organisation (Judge and Piccolo 2004: 755-768). The other model of leadership is transactional leadership. Transactional leaders emphasize on the task outcomes and mainly rely on power systems and control in order to attain the desired goals. This style is fair to all employees since everybody is expected to follow policies and procedures in the organisation in meeting the performance requirements (Bass, Avolio, Jung and Berson, 2003: 207-218). Surprisingly, transactional leadership is not suitable for changing world since workers demand more autonomy and creativity in their work. Mergers and acquisitions will require constant change in the organisational structure, the power systems and control systems thus hindering the ability of transactional leaders to attain the desired results. The changing world requires transformational leadership in order to cope with employee demands and customer needs. Motivated workforce requires more task control and collaborative working environment. Multicultural workforce requires the leaders to align the unique needs of each employee with the shared goal and vision of the organisation (Kark and Van 2007: 514). Transactional leadership will demoralize the employees and eventually lead to low job satisfaction and high turnover. In the current globalised economy, leaders’ tasks should be to inspire the workforce, create collaborative working environment and delegate tasks effectively in to order to attain the shared vision of the organisation (Bass, Avolio, Jung and Berson, 2003: 207-218). References: Adair, J.E. (1973). Action-centered leadership. London: McGraw-Hill. Bass, B.M., Avolio, B.J., Jung, D.I and Berson, Y. 2003. “Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership”. Journal of Applied psychology. Vol 88: pp 207-218. Judge, T.A and Piccolo, R.F. 2004. “Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analysis test for their relative validity”. Journal of applied psychology. Vol 88: pp 755-768. Kark, R and Van, D. 2007. “Motivation to lead, motivation to follow: the role of the self-regulatory focus in leadership processes”. Academic management review. Vol 32: pp 500-528. Lord, R.G and Brown, D.J. 2001. “Leadership, values, and subordinate self-concepts”. Leadership. Vol 12: pp 133-152. Mullins, L.J. (2010). Management and organisational behaviour. 9th edition. Harlow: Pearson Higher education. Topic 2 Leadership can be understood from the various models and theories that help and individual gauge his or her leadership approach and style. The study of leadership in my MBA program has enabled me effectively understand the concepts of leadership and my leadership approach. I believe that I am a transformational leader since I can inspire and stimulate the creativity of my followers. Before studying leadership, I was unable to differentiate leadership and management. For instance, I thought that the purpose of leadership is concerned with establishing organisational policies, delegating work and issuing authority to the subordinates. Contrary to my earlier perception, I agree with numerous scholars that leadership is concerned with inspiring others and unifying their efforts in order to attain a shared vision (Avolio and Gardner 2005). Leadership models such as Adair’s model, situational leadership style, transformational leadership and 5 exemplary leadership style have enabled me understand the duties and responsibilities of a leader (Yukl 2010). I am now aware of the critical importance of motivating employees and encouraging feedback. In order to do this, I have understood that the leader should establish a collaborative working environment and cater for the unique needs of each employee (Ibarra & Hansen 2011). My primary goal is to be a transformational leader just like Jose Manuel Martinez Gutierrez, the former executive of Zara fashion outlets in charge of UK. Jose managed to inspire his followers in producing new designs that any other fashion retail store in the industry. Since I am interested in working in the same industry, I will be capable of inspiring my teammates and caring for the needs. I am now aware of my individual strengths and weaknesses after studying the Johari window that includes public, hidden, blind and unknown behaviours of an individual. After the course, I can interact with my teammates regardless of the unique personality and perceptions of our discussions. I can speak confidently and request for an opinion or feedback from my teammates without displaying any emotions or negative feelings (Yukl 2010). With abundant knowledge of transformational leadership, I know that maintaining the work morale and cohesive working relations is key to success in the changing business environment. I should also act confidently and lead by example in order to effectively articulate the vision and attain the trust of my teammates. I am aware that the changing business world is driven by globalisation of workforce, new technologies, increasing customer demands and varying employee needs. I have understood the needs to understand the components of national culture such as the degree of uncertainty avoidance, the masculinity level and orientation of the culture in order to effectively lead a multicultural workforce (Ibarra & Hansen 2011). In addition, I have understood the components of organisational culture such as the stories, rituals, power systems and myths that are essential for the organisation. I can also undertake a change of organisational culture by unfreezing, changing and refreezing the change through creating urgency for change, implementing short term wins and getting the commitment of all members of the organisation (Lord and Hall 1992: 137-157). I have understood the importance of communicational skills, teamwork and feedback in leadership. Initially, some teammates used to accuse me of bad temper and domineering attitude in our group discussions. I now understand the importance of maintaining calm and emotional intelligence such as empathy while interacting with teammates (Still 2012). I can attend to the personal needs of teammates and request for constructive feedback on my arguments in group discussions. I can also express my opinion openly without fear of ridicule or counter-argument from my teammates (Zigurs 2003: 339-351). In my opinion, leaders are not born, but they are created through understanding the proper leadership skills, mentoring, coaching and experience. I believe that understanding leadership theories and models useful in becoming an effective leader. Leaders must be able to drive innovation and change the organisational culture in order to meet the demands of the changing world. References: Avolio, B.J and Gardner, W.L. 2005. “Authentic leadership development: getting to the root of positive forms of leadership”. Leadership quarterly. Vol 16: 315-338. Ibarra, H & Hansen, M. (2011). “Are you a collaborative leader?” Harvard business review. (Online) Available from (18th September, 2012). Lord, R.G and Hall, R.J. 1992. “Contemporary views of leadership and individual differences”. Leadership. Vol 16: pp 137- 157. Still, C. 2012. Unit 10: developing as a leader for a changing world. (Lecture) Unpublished lecture for M005LON, Unit 10, Coventry University, London Campus: London (15th September, 2012). Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organisations; 7th ed. Pearson: Prentice-Hall. Zigurs, I. 2003. “Leadership in virtual teams: oxymoron or opportunity”? Organisation dynamics. Vol 31: pp 339-351. Read More