Organizational Leadership: Leadrship and Change and Team Working - Coursework Example

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP: LEADRSHIP AND CHANGE AND TEAM WORKING due: Question one: leadership and change Introduction Leadership is defined as an action of socially influencing people, whereby a person can help and support others to accomplish a common task (Chemers 2014, p.1). Leadership development is required for people in top positions for example, managers in organizations so that they can be able to know what is required of them in their top positions. The aim of leadership development is to bring out great leaders who will be able to perform their work as required. The main challenge faced is how to cultivate leaders who will be effective. Leadership theories include; Trait theory, Behavioural theory, Contingency Theory, Transactional Theory, and Path-Goal Theory among many others (Northouse 2012, p.15-171). This essay will analyze the aspects that lead to great leadership development and the challenges faced in the same area. Leadership and leadership development Leadership is an action of socially influencing people, whereby a person can help and support others to accomplish a common task. Leadership development is the ability of a person to be effective while performing their leadership roles (Veslor, McCauley & Rudeman, 2010, p.2). Leadership and leadership development, therefore, show that leading people, is a task that is left for the few who have the ability to manage not only themselves but also other people. Leadership is not only nurtured but also practiced by the people who mainly specialize in it. Although leadership and leadership development sound similar, they differ in some ways. Leadership is mainly focused on a person’s character and skills that the person has, whereas leadership development is focused on teaching a person the key concepts that revolve around leadership and encouraging them to practice it. Principles and practices that underpin leadership development Leadership principles in leadership development, help in governing people and organizations for stability and great achievement. The first principle is, Managing vulnerability (Avolio 2011, p.151) but leaders fear discussing their vulnerabilities. Individual strengths and weakness are understood by personally learning about oneself to know where one is vulnerable, so as to avoid mistakes. The second principles is, Identification Organizations must review their leadership development needs, and by doing so, the organizations can identify leadership gaps that are present amongst them and the need for improvement. This practice helps organizations to improve their status by amending the areas that require attention and strengthening themselves to remain relevant and remain competent. This is done by coaching leaders in top positions to enhance and strengthen their leadership development skills. Concept of learning Leadership development is enhanced through learning not only theoretically but also practically outside a classroom. Leaders should also put themselves in situations that other people go through so that they can appreciate how people feel and react under a certain leadership (Avolio 2011, p.165). Concepts that revolve around leadership development include authority, transformation intelligence and trust (Ulrich, Jack & Norman 2013, p.155), and the aim of these concepts is to make leaders be up to task and be coherent while performing their leadership responsibilities. Leaders should learn about cycles that affect their positions. Leaders should know that success is based on how they behave and what they do because their attributes affect results (Ulrich et al. 2013, p.202). Leaders should also be trained on how to interact with their followers to know their needs and wants. Being an organization is also required as this helps in making leaders accountable for everything they do. They should also be trained to ensure that the economic status of institutions they work should be stable. Workshops are essential as they help leaders identify the attributes that bring out success. Training programs helps in coaching leaders to enhance their skills (Ulrich et al. 2013, p.203-205). These concepts merge with leadership and leadership development because; a) a leader should be able to interact with the people who he/she is serving to know what they require; b) The leader should be accountable for their actions; c) Leaders should not only seek training but also know that they should be prepared to learn something whenever they are in the leadership field. This shows that concepts that revolve around leadership and leadership development help in governing leaders with skills that they require to perform their functions. How training/ learning can facililtate leadership development Learning about leadership development facilitates an individual with skills required for one to become a great leader. It also shows that by becoming a leader, a person has a responsibility of not only meeting the needs of his/her people but also by managing important things that face them. The significance of taking leadership is that it helps one to become accountable for every action they do. It also instills a sense of relationship in leaders because as they undergo the training programs they can learn the strongholds that come about when one has a good relationship with the people. It also helps them to comprehend the responsibilities and the challenges that one is faced with in leadership (Marturano & Gosling 2007, p. 189). Leadership theories Theories that are found in leadership development include; The path-goal theory of leadership, whereby motivation is the key factor and the contingency approach to decision making, which focuses on how a decision made by a leader affects people (Chemers 2013, p.44-51). How leadership development is managed and suatained in organisations Institutions and organizations have found the need to manage and develop leadership development amongst them. This is accomplished when they identify and fill the leadership gaps amongst them so that they can be able to be consistent and effective. They also take their leaders to seminars and workshops so that leaders can continue learning what is required of them. Some organizations go the extent of encouraging strong relationships and interactions between leaders and their workers to make themselves competent in their work. In a company that was declining, Leadership development was encouraged, and this made the company get back on its feet (Team results USA 2015, para. 3-4). Type of leadership that can make a difference The kind of leadership that can make a change is the ‘Servant leadership style’. It mainly focuses on putting the needs of the employees first. Even though this leadership style will help the society that grow politically, socially and economically, some leaders tend to consider themselves highly. This makes such leaders selfish in their position, whereby they will engage in activities that will only benefit themselves, and this makes the servant leadership style to fail. Social and emotional intelligence should also be encouraged amongst leaders as this makes them perform their duties and give good results. Conclusion In conclusion, leadership development is crucial, especially when it comes to people who are given the mandate to perform leadership roles in the society. Leaders should be coached and mentored by people who have gone through what they experience. They should also adhere to their responsibilities by serving people and helping them in areas of need. Leadership roles should also be taken seriously, and the people in leadership positions should be helped in areas that they face challenges. Question two: Leadership and team working Introduction Leadership and team working is the state of leading a group of people who have a special kind of skill so that they can achieve a common type of goal. Leadership and team working merge in that they have a common agenda of completing a task to achieve a goal. The main challenges that leadership and teamwork face are; leadership and teamwork have different virtues, and different ideologies might arise, and this might lead to conflicts in a team. The purpose of this essay is to show that the amount of work that can be accomplished by the input that is instilled by leadership and teamwork is effective. The objectives that will be brought out will emphasize on why leadership and team working should be practiced in organizations and institutions. Team theories include; Bruce Tuckman’s model of teams, Belbin,s theory of team roles, Hierarchy of needs theory, John Adairs’s theory and the strength theory (Hawkins 2011, p.5-12). This essay will focus on how teamwork is vital and also some of the challenges faced in the same field. Team work and leadership Leadership is the act of influencing individuals socially, and trying to achieve the goal of helping people and supporting them so that a common agenda can be fulfilled. Leadership and team working have similarities such as; they all have a common goal to be achieved and are both guided by a set of principles. Although they have similarities, they both have differences. They include; Leadership is much of goal oriented, and leaders always want to achieve something on their own, whereas team working is focused on sharing a task evenly amongst people in the team (Day 2014, p.689). A team is a group of people, specialized in a particular field, who come together to achieve a common agenda. People in a team grow together in a particular platform, and this makes them develop a bond. A group, on the other hand, does not majorly focus on the skills that the people have but it focuses on the people’s strength and what each person has to offer to other members in the group. Leadership blends with groups and teams because every team and the group always require a leader who leads the members, to assist them in areas that they face challenges so that a particular task can be accomplished. This shows that Leadership plays an essential role in a group and team. Concept of leadership and team working The main ideas that present themselves in leadership and team working mainly focuses on the favorable qualities. One of the concepts is good leadership quality. This helps in making the team effective. The second one is communication amongst the members and the leader; this creates cohesion in the team. Duties and responsibilities is another concept. Clearly defined roles amongst members make each and every member to play their part in contributing to the team. The fourth concept is cooperation and decision making. The leader of the team should ensure each member is active and tasks are executed accordingly. Decisions made by the leader should not affect members negatively, and a member should take part in group decision making (Ghuman & Aswathappa 2010, p.299). The most effective leadership theory is ‘Transactional Leadership Theory’. This is effective because the leader can align the members so that each and every member adheres to their duties (Yoost, Crawford 2015, p.167). Team working assumes significance in that; workloads are evenly distributed among members. Barriers, principles and practices that underpin team working Team working has some of its shortcomings. One of them is Laziness. This occurs when some members in a team do not contribute to the team, but they still get the benefits of the teamwork. Two, more time and resources are required in teamwork so that a specific task is done. The third barrier to team working is different ideologies in the team. Individuals may prefer their opinion more than his/her members, and this results into conflicts (Ghuman & Aswathappa 2010, p.298). Principles, and what drives people to perform well in teams are the core factors to an effective team. One is the team members should be provided with work as this will help them to grow because of constant practice. Members should involve themselves in team building activities so that they can learn to work together. Guidelines should be present in the team so that each member abides by a set of rules. Members should be motivated and constantly rewarded for each task they managed to complete as this drives them to do more. Link between team working and leadership Team working and leadership go hand in hand because a team requires a leader who will set standards in the group. The leader also provides insights for the team, and this encourages teams to grow. The key developments in team working are; creating assignments or tasks for the teams to accomplish, ensuring that each member is committed to the work and ensuring communication amongst team members. Leaders can help to facilitate the members working by always keeping the team up to the task to strengthen the team abilities and make members commit themselves to their duties. Teamwork and leadership is important because it helps in ensuring that members of a team do their duties accordingly and that leaders have the mandate of ensuring that the team does its duties. Leaders can break the barriers that hinder team working by understanding the team members and trying to fix the areas that need attention. Some companies, for example, a certain company under a case study in China, encouraged team working, and this made the company more stable and significant progress was observed (Ghuman & Aswathappa 2010, p.295-296). Leadership that can make a difference The Proactive leadership style can make a difference. This is because it is much of a democratic leadership style which allow members to participate in the team affairs, boosting the participation of members in activities. It only fails because different ideologies arise in a democratic environment, and this may lead to conflict among members. Successful team working can only be achieved by certain factors. They include; commitment, flexibility, support management, trust and adherence to team values amongst members and proactivity (Ghuman & Aswathappa 2010, p.295-296). Conclusion Teamwork, and leadership are the core values that help to bring out success. For teamwork to succeed effective leadership should be present and team members should work together with the intent of attaining a common goal and strengthening bonds between themselves. Teamwork is vital, important and necessary for organizations and institutions to practice. Teamwork should, therefore, be encouraged because it brings forward good results and institutions can grow significantly out of it. Bibliography AVOLIO, B. J., (2011). Full range leadership development. Thousand Oaks, Calif, SAGE Publications CHEMERS, M. (2014). An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press. DAY, D. V. (2014). The Oxford handbook of leadership and organizations. New York : Oxford University Press GHUMAN, K., & ASWATHAPPA, K. (2010). 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